L’Élève (1996) - film review

France, towards the end of the 19th Century.  Julien, 25 years old, has ambitions to be a writer, but circumstances force him to take up a job as a private teacher.  His pupil is Morgan, the 12-year old son of an apparently wealthy couple who live extravagantly.  Although at first Morgan resents his new tutor, gradually he warms to him, respecting his intelligence and sensitivity.  When he learns the truth about Morgan’s parents – that they are self-obsessed socialites on the brink of bankruptcy – Julien is tempted to give up his position, but his new-formed bond with Morgan holds him back.  During a disastrous stay in Poland, Julien can bear no more of his hypocritical employers and accepts another teaching post in France.  Some time late, he receives a note from Morgan’s mother, imploring him not to turn his back on her sick child…

L’Élève is a respectable and faithful adaptation of the Henry James novel “The Pupil”, with Vincent Cassel – star of Mathieu Kassovitz’s La Haine (1995) – taking the lead role.  It’s an engaging, rather poignant drama which explores the complex relationship between two lonely souls – a young boy and his teacher – who are drawn to one another by their intelligence and their sense of unease in a world that seems ill-made for them.

The production values are exceptional, even for a French period piece – the lavish sets and beautiful photography brilliantly evoke the world of Henry James, a world with a brittle foundation and plenty of darkness behind a façade of splendour and gaiety.  The acting is generally fine, although Vincent Cassel isn’t quite convincing and feels ill-at-ease in what is, for him, an unusually introspective character role.  More impressive is Caspar Salmon, who plays the unworldly pupil, bringing surprisingly many layers and a great sense of pathos to his performance.

There are some memorably poetic moments in this film, but equally there are some moments of painfully saccharine sentimentality.  The latter may have passed unnoticed were it not for the inappropriately intrusive musical score, which clumsily tries to hammer some emotion into the film, but in so doing weakens its humanity and genuine feeling.  In spite of this, the film stands as an engaging period drama offering an ironic portrait of a society in moral decay.

© James Travers 2006

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