Obsession is the secret of compelling writing
Starring: Fabrice Luchini, Ernst Umhauer, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emmanuelle Seigner, Denis Ménochet, Bastien Ughetto Directed by: François Ozon
Duration: 105 minutes Parental guidance: nudity,
sexual situations Playing in French with English subtitles at Forum cinema, and in French at Beaubien, Boucherville,
Excentris, Forum, Pont Viau, Quartier Latin, St. Eustache and
StarCité cinemas François Ozon doesn’t make a direct reference to Hitchcock’s Rear Window until the final moments of his comedic thriller Dans la maison. But, like the master of suspense, the French writer-director has a lot of fun with the topic of voyeurism.
Knowing nods to the film-viewing experience are a bonus, as Ozon explores the vicarious and potentially coercive pleasures of literature. Freely adapted from Spanish playwright Juan Mayorga’s The Boy in the Last Row, the story revolves around the unusual relationship between a high school teacher and one of his students.
Germain (Fabrice Luchini, excellent) is frustrated by the moronic writings of the kids in his French class, whom he has asked for an essay about their weekend. He reads the drivel aloud to his wife (Kristin Scott Thomas), his voice dripping with scorn, until he comes upon something that catches his attention.
A boy tells of how, after spying on a certain house for a long time, he finally found a way in. Befriending a classmate by way of helping him with his math homework, he gained access to the residence, snooping around and even catching a whiff of his mother, “the scent of middleclass women.”
Germain is outraged, sort of, and perplexed by the closing line: “à suivre.”
He confronts the boy, lecturing him about the composition’s mocking tone; but he is thrown when the student hands him the sequel. And so begins an enthralling game of cat and mouse that begs the question, who is toying with whom? (Ultimately, it is Ozon toying with us.)
Ernst Umhauer is wonderfully inscrutable as Claude, the 16-yearold who plays it cool in almost every situation, while his teacher gets more and more flustered.
Germain reads each instalment to his wife at night, relating her criticisms as his own the following day. Claude couldn’t care less. Although his initial pretence was seeing inside the house, it soon becomes clear that he is obsessed with his pal Rapha’s mom, Esther (Emmanuelle Seigner), a forlorn housewife who dreams of a career in design.
Or is it Germain who is obsessed with her? Or is Germain simply obsessed with Claude? He can’t get enough of the boy’s essays, that much is clear. Luchini goes to town embodying his character’s neurotic fascination with and growing involvement in the developing storyline.
“It’s fiction!” he tells his concerned wife.
There’s a hint of Woody Allen in the absurdity of the situation, and Ozon takes a mischievous thrill in mixing his humour with edge-ofyour-seat suspense. It’s a delicate balance, which he fumbles in the film’s final act.
But even though the buildup doesn’t yield the anticipated payoff, Dans la maison remains a slick, artful and highly entertaining ride. Dans la maison