Rating:  -
The film is very well directed & acted. I gave it 3 stars because the plot moves so slow- it's boring and hard to stay with. Also it would have been more believable if the lead character, whom everyone else is attracted to, were attractive. There are some nice full frontal nude scenes of other actors to compensate.
Rating:  -
Excellent love story... great cast, great acting! You also have to take a look at the DVD extras. Would definitely recommend buying this one for your collection.
Rating:  -
It is the opening of the school year at a prominent business college for elite rich kids. "Grande Ecole", based on a play by Jean-Marie Besset, focuses on the lives of six young characters, their dreams, aspirations and desires. Paul (Gregori Baquet), and Agnes (Alice Taglioni), who have dated for some time and have an active sexual relationship, soon discover that desire often takes unexpected turns. Paul, a young man who has lived the straight life expected by society, begins to discover he has hidden desires for other men, namely one of his roommates, "Louis Arnoult" (Jocelyn Quivrin). Louis is strictly a straight man, athlete, and poised toward a life in the corporate world, with no desire to explore his feminine side. Soon after Paul begins realizing his deep attraction to Louis, Agnes also begins to figure it out and confronts Paul, making him a "fair deal". Whichever of the two can successfully seduce Louis first, wins. If she wins, Paul must give up on Louis and his gay desires, to live out his life loving only her. If she wins, she agrees to give up her love for Paul, and set him free. "The rule is to encourage competition" (to coin one of the many great quotes from this film), might be the best way to describe the character of Agnes. She is excited about the whole game she has contrived for the two to play. Paul on the other hand, refuses the bet initially, but wishes to rebel against all the strict norms his parents expect for him, and follow his heart to find the love that has been missing all his life.
In the end, the winner is decided, based on a lie, as neither were successful in their attempt, but what Agnes has somehow missed is that Louis was not the only threat to her relationship with Paul. This is a most powerful film topic, and the film gives an honest and thought provoking look into human complexities and desire. One great quote from this production is: "hetero, homo, that's all over, it's just about you". The quote is spoken by Mecir (Salim Kechiouche), a young Arab man who falls deeply in love with Paul. This is the concept for the whole film, that desire should not be based on gender, but rather on the heart, leaving each of us to explore our desire for love with men, women, or both, as our heart dictates, breaking down the expectations of society, instead of surrendering to the "norm" that has been engrained into each of us. The film also stars Arthur Jugnot as the third roommate, and Elodie Navarre, who plays as "Emmeline", Louis' girlfriend. I would personally have rather seen a more substantial and interesting role for Arthur Jugnot, or at least some steamy nudity with him. He was the only character who seemingly managed not to show any of his "assets" in the film. That being said, there is a LOT of wonderful male full frontal nudity in this film, which adds a great lot of eroticism. The story line is terrific, and powerful. The acting is superb from all six, especially the male roles. The downside without doubt would be the subtitles which make it hard to follow the film as the dialogue moves rather quickly. It would have been better with english dubbed voice-overs as opposed to the english subtitles. I truly loved this movie and all it's daring content. More thought provoking than the actual film, are the extras included on the DVD, such as the "scene deletions" which include a narrative read by Taglioni, that cuts to the bone of what this movie is all about. Unlike any I have seen in other films trying to make the same point, the writers viewpoint is expressed in great depth and feeling, in a manner that would challenge almost anyone's belief on love and gender roles in sexuality. Tastefully done, this is a film that warms the heart, opens the mind to individual desires and breaks away at the inhibitions and stereotypes that society imposes. A very attractive cast, great casting, audio, video, direction and production. If you like movies with a theme of this nature, and a lot of erotic male frontal nudity, I highly recommend "Grande Ecole" for your viewing.
Rating: -
This movie makes for wonderful viewing. I found the dialogue over the top at times, even for a French movie,but the story is wonderfully told and acted and has a sad tone to it that moves one right to the last scene. Highly recommended and not only for art film buffs.Has some really beautiful men in it who are not shy about showing off their bodies but this does not distract from the strong story . I found the love scenes between them really believable and well acted. The extras on the dvd are really good.
Richard
Rating:  -
Grande Ecole (Robert Salis, 2004)
Salis (Living Naked)'s first non-documentary feature is an adaptation of a Jean-Marie Besset play which, I confess, I have neither read nor seen. So take this review with a grain of salt; most of the aspersions I'm going to cast here may have less to do with Salis than with Besset.
The plot: Paul (Gregori Baquet) and Agnes (Alice Taglioni) are dating. Agnes wants to move in together; Paul would prefer to live on campus with roommates. It quickly becomes obvious that Paul would, specifically, rather live with Louis-Arnault (Jocelyn Quivrin, recently of Syriana). Despite Louis-Arnault having a girlfriend himself, Agnes makes Paul a bet-- whichever of the two seduces Louis-Arnault first can have him. To add onto the complexity, Paul also finds himself drawn to a university worker, Mecir (Selim Kechiouche), who's more open about returning Paul's affections than is Louis-Arnault.
There's a whole lot going on here, and Salis wants to pack it all into this film. That's all well and good; the many subtexts here are well worth exploring. Unfortunately, what suffers is the main story itself; what could well have been a sumptuous erotic buffet ends up neither sumptuous nor erotic. The obvious crux of the whole thing is Paul's confusion, but there's never a point where Paul (or Baquet; hard to tell whether the fault is with character or actor) seems at all confused. Which might be excusable if we had any indication that he was manipulating everyone else-- but, of course, we don't get that, either. We've really no idea what Paul is doing here, other than wandering through the movie, barely reacting to the events around him. The rest of the characters are scarcely better; Agnes manages to work up a head of steam every once in a while, but seems to be suffering from sleeping sickness most of the time. Louis-Arnault's hapless girlfriend Emeline has an excuse, at least, as everyone involved is keeping her in the dark, and Louis-Arnault himself manages to show some emotion now and again. Louis-Arnault, in fact, quickly becomes the movie's most intriguing character; one can never be sure whether he's oblivious or leading Paul on, and unlike the rest of the cast, Quivrin pulls the role off with flair. Unfortunately, the longer the movie goes on, the less important Louis-Arnault is to it.
I wanted to like this movie. I really did. The best of intentions, however, sometimes can't produce results. So it was with both Grande Ecole and my reaction to it. **
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