Saturday, December 13, 2014

Movie review - "The Student" (1988) (or "L'etudiante") **

Before she became familiar to English speaking countries with Braveheart, Sophie Marceau was actually a big name in France since she was a teenager. This is a vehicle for her in her early 20s. She gets a big star entrance, taking being wrapped up in ski head gear and taking it off to reveal her beauty. The person who sees it is Vincent Lindon, who is first presented as a dag - pink lipstick to help with the glare in ski gear, but eventually turns out to be a pants man: a musician and composer with a track record with the ladies. The film tracks their romance.

It's not much of a story - most of the conflict comes because Marceau is in her final year of studying to be a teacher and feels she should be focusing on that. Also Minton goes on tour and isn't sure he should settle down either. Both get jealous and they yell at each other. They make up.

There's lots of talk about pop culture - Lindon describes his music as a cross between Jim Morrison and Elston John. There is also some terrible music - we hear too much of Lindon's band, and the stuff on the soundtrack isn't much better.

Marie-Christine Barrault (the star of Cousin Cousine) makes a cameo as herself. But the big attraction here is Marceau who is very good looking. She's required to do some full frontal nudity - is this something no French actress can avoid? Still, she's got to rank with one of the most gorgeous stars of all time.

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