L'école de la chair (1998)

Director:

Benoît Jacquot

Writers:

Jacques Fieschi (writer)
Yukio Mishima (novel)

Release Date:

26 February 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Romance

Plot:

Fashion executive Dominique's obsession for Quentin, a young bisexual hustler, fills her desire for physical love but leaves her taxed emotionally...

Plot Keywords:

Obsession | Fashion Executive | Friend | Bisexual | Love

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Isabelle Huppert	...	Dominique
Vincent Martinez	...	Quentin
Vincent Lindon	...	Chris
Marthe Keller	...	Madame Thorpe
François Berléand	...	Soukaz
Danièle Dubroux	...	Dominique's Friend
Bernard Le Coq	...	Cordier
Roxane Mesquida	...	Marine
Jean-Louis Richard	...	M. Thorpe
Jean-Claude Dauphin	...	Louis-Guy
Michelle Goddet	...	Quentin's Mother
Jean-Michel	...	Marcus
Laurent Jumeaucourt	...	The Young Plumber
Pierre Laroche	...	Robert
Richard Schroeder	...	The Photographer

Also Known As:

The School of Flesh (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some strong sexuality.

Runtime:

Argentina:105 min | France:110 min | Germany:98 min (cut) | Spain:105 min

Country:

France | Luxembourg | Belgium

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:18A | France:U | Peru:14 | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R

Company:

Artémis Productions

Quotes:

Quentin: You can still see me.
Dominique: But you're getting married.
Quentin: I'm going to be a husband, not a monk.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Nikutai no gakko (1965)

Soundtrack:

Boogie

An intelligent movie, but probably not to everybody's taste

If there is one thing you can't blame the creators of this movie of, than it must be the fact that their movie is too sugar sweet. This is certainly not like any other romantic Hollywood movie that you may have seen in the past. This movie is actually a very good study of people and human nature in not so average but very recognizable situations.

"L'École de la Chair" or "The School of Flesh" could be the title of a cheap porn movie, but it certainly isn't. This is an intelligent movie about a mature fashion executive called Dominique who gets obsessed with Quentin, a bisexual male prostitute. He's a violent man who loves nobody but himself and yet she can't resist him. She is filled with passion, but hates the man at the same time because he always hurts her feelings and doesn't seem to love or care about her. What should she do? Should she show him the door or keep trying to get him out of the prostitution? Should she listen to her friends, colleagues, Quentin's former and current clients... who all try to help her, but sometimes do more harm than good?

Although I would like to say that everybody should watch this movie, I know for sure that not many will like it. This isn't the kind of movie that will easily reach a large audience. Nevertheless this is an interesting movie, but I guess it will be loved most by people who are used to watch this kind of movies or people who like the European cinema. Personally I liked what I saw and that's why I give it a 7.5/10.