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Cours privé
1986 Drama
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Credits
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Director: Pierre Granier-Deferre
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Script: Jean-Marc Roberts, Pierre Granier-Deferre, Christopher Frank
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Photo: Robert Fraisse
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Music: Philippe Sarde
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Cast: Élisabeth Bourgine (Jeanne Kern),
Michel Aumont (Bruno Ketti),
Xavier Deluc (Laurent),
Sylvia Zerbib (Patricia),
Emmanuelle Seigner (Zanon),
Lucienne Hamon (Madame Ketti),
Pierre Vernier (Philippe),
Rosine Rochette (Brigitte),
Jacques Boudet (Bonnier),
André Chaumeau (Redon),
Dominique Zardi (L'appariteur)
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Country: France
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Language: French
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Runtime: 95 min
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Summary
Shortly after she takes up a teaching post in a reputable private school, Jeanne Kern
begins to receive offensive letters from an unknown admirer. The school’s principal,
Monsieur Ketti, becomes concerned when he is given a photograph depicting a female orgy,
with the face of one woman cut out. Jeanne is determined not to be intimidated,
but things come to a head when her colleagues, family and parents of pupils at the school
begin to receive copies of the compromising photograph. Someone appears to be determined
to drive her away – but why?
Review
If there is a theme running through Pierre Granier-Deferre’s filmography as a director
it is an affinity, if not relish, for the darker side of human psychology. His characters
– male and female equally – are rarely predictable, and often unfathomable in the way
they treat themselves and other people. Cours
privé is one of his darker studies in this shadow world of the human psyche,
revolving around the theme of forbidden love between a young woman and a much older man
and the same young woman with the teenage girls in her charge. It’s an unsettling,
baffling exploration of the deadly sin of lust which – disappointingly – doesn’t go as
far as perhaps it might in revealing the full extent of the sexual perversions which are
hinted at (extreme narcissism, lesbianism, paedophilia and perhaps worse).
Pierre Granier-Deferre’s approach may be too cautious, a tad too conservative, but the
lead performances - from Michel Aumont and Elizabeth Bourgine – are mesmerising, making
this an uncomfortable but seductive voyage into uncharted territory.
© James Travers 2007
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