BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Palaest recommended

Sammy-Jo Cervantes There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Yvonne Jodi Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

elision10 Mine is a minority opinion I'm sure, but Ozon lost me when he had the teacher steal a copy of the math test to move the plot along. Of course the test is exactly where the lead can find it. The motivation and execution seem highly unlikely.The other thing -- and I know this is a feature, not a bug, for many -- but the blend of fact/fiction (did this really happen?...no, oh, maybe yes) is tiresome and off-putting. Overall, I'm just not buying how this kid inserts himself into the life of another family without anyone saying "enough!" Perhaps French adults are much more casual than Americans about letting adolescents get emotionally entangled with themselves but I doubt it.

scottyxl This was a film without much scenery or need for a score. It only needed a setting for the plot to unfold. I liked how this film could take place anywhere in the world and yet the story is not common.I like how the plot made sure you couldn't predict what was going to happen and how it wasn't obvious from the start. The interaction of the characters was done really well between the 'real' and 'fantasy' worlds. You never know if it is something that happened or if Claude makes it up.Even though the movie was almost 2 hours long it didn't feel that way and it was quite enjoyable to watch.

Blake Peterson Joining the Tom Ripleys and the Brandon Shaws of the world, Claude Garcia (Ernst Umhauer) is yet another slick sociopath that smiles a creepy smile in the face of the mini-tragedies that befall the people that attract his attention. He isn't a killer but he may as well be; he seems distant from reality, putting himself at an arm's length away from life's biggest outpourings of emotion.In the House is a clever black comedy that touches on the obsessions of Brian De Palma and the subtleties of Hitchcock. With an adept premise at its disposal, the film constructs several climaxes (some based in reality, some in fantasy) that act as tricks in a setting of stringed treats. Ozon's direction is subversive and unpredictable; the situation begins with a comedic edge, but will it transform into a voyeuristic thriller? In the House keeps us on our toes at all times — even if it isn't necessarily a "thriller" per se, it contains the same uncomfortable silence, the same uncomfortable suspense.It's the start of a new school year, and lit teacher Germain Germain (Fabrice Luchini) can feel unrest bubbling in his blood. When he assigns a "How I Spent My Last Weekend" essay, he is disappointed with the results. The majority of the kids are so apathetic that all they can muster is a few lines about how they ate pizza on Saturday and were too tired to do anything on Sunday. But one student perks his interest: the smarmy Claude Garcia, who writes about his experience wriggling into the home of an affluent family he's been spying on. To him, they're picture perfect. When he becomes the tutor of the house's youngest member, the shy Rapha (Bastien Ughetto), he is simultaneously intrigued and mocking of their boring normalities. The paper ends simply with a to be continued.Germain is troubled, but mesmerized. He seems to visualize a premise for a potentially successful novel, and immediately takes interest in Claude's writings. He wants his student to make that to be continued a reality. Germain once again finds enthusiasm for teaching, but when Claude proves to be much more perceptive and manipulative than he first appears to be, a chain of events trails on that means disaster for his instructor.In the House is brilliantly constructed, seamless in a labyrinth of intricacies. It's amusing and dark; as Germain analyzes Claude's writings as though they were fiction, there is devious smirk on Claude's face; but then again, we're wearing that devious smirk too. Germain intermittently pushes his student to further develop the Rapha Sr. "character," or delve a little deeper into the psyche of his wife (Emmanuelle Seigner) — one can only hold their head in their hands in frustration that Germain can't seem to grasp the idea that these people are real, and the damage done is all the work of Claude. Yet, Germain has had the same job for years, has been married for years, has kept the same routine going for years. In order to get some excitement into the atmosphere, he'd rather live the lives of seemingly average people just to avoid the ennui of his own. Luchini's performance is so convincing that we never see Germain with disappointment in our eyes; we instead see a man so caught up in escapism that he'd do anything to ride on its back.Claude, however, is a willing subject. He slides along corridors hoping to catch a glimpse of something he shouldn't, he wishes to whiff another scent of a middle-class woman, as he so uncomfortably puts it. For the majority of the film, he carries a dashing arrogance that makes you want him to do bad; but just towards the end, we find him just as desperate to escape his own reality as Germain is. Umhauer is 50 shades of sinister, and the fact that we hope for something unspeakable to happen speaks volumes about his performance.In the House jumbles up the trappings of suburban life and twists it into a gnarled exercise in underlying tension. The terror we feel never comes to a head, but we crave it. Read more reviews at petersonreviews.com

shatguintruo A bored teacher. Despondent. A search for the fountain of youth. ( Oh! How it's dreadful growing old! If I only could stay forever young, in all the splendour of my 15, 16 years... ). Alás, now suddenly arises everything I would like to be. And how this appeared? Through myself? No... Through my wife, Jeanne, an intellectual like myself. accomplice of all my successes and all my failures. an open dialogue, for better or worse. A boy, yet, Claude Garcia who challenges me. I, who always thought of myself as being the best, now in my mature years I can read between the lines, in all my conversations with any person, a little bit of their personality. How I acquired this ability? It came from all the literature I have absorbed over the years. This would surely be Germain's thought, if we were given the power to enter his mind. With this movie, François Ozon gives us a present: It is the old story of the sphinx: decipher me or be devoured. The sphinx: François Ozon... who is about to be devoured? We, The spectators. In the purpose of what I have just written: remember the scene in which Claude just made love with Jeanne? The way he faces sideways the camera? Traces of a smile, such as Leonardo Da Vinci's La Gioconda... "enigmatic"... (Is it really a smile or isn't? Is she shy or is she a challenge?) The movie is almost a reality show, many things are left to the imagination of the ones who appreciate this genre. Germain is a voyeur, though he might not know it, or perhaps he knows but denies it to his wife and even to himself, voyeur still, nevertheless. Claude Garcia realises this since his first talk with the "master". Henceforth, he unravels a plot which the ending he already knows. And it is so clever that makes with Germain thinks that HE is the one who directs the plotting. To finalize: impeccable masterpiece for all those who go to the movies in search for more than just a fun and amusing blockbuster. In a scale of 1 to 10, I give this movie: 10 (masterpiece).