The Pupil (1996)
"L'élève" (original title)

Director:

Olivier Schatzky

Writers:

Ève Deboise, Henry James (story),

Stars:

Vincent Cassel, Caspar Salmon, Caroline Cellier

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Vincent Cassel	...	Julien
Caspar Salmon	...	Morgan
Caroline Cellier	...	Emma
Jean-Pierre Marielle	...	Armand
Sabine Destailleur	...	Louise
Sandrine Le Berre	...	Paula
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Angelo Aybar	...	Sénateur
Jean-Marc Bailleux	...	Joueur de whist
Luciana Blancher-Castellucci	...	Liliana
Brian Bob	...	Lord Doerington
Luciana Castellucci
Magdalena Cielecka	...	Jeune fille polonaise
Line Clair	...	Emilie
Pierre Dalban Moreynas	...	Homme
Maggy Dussauchoy	...	Comtesse Jesenska

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

foreign language adaptation | based on novel

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

11 September 1996 (France)

Also Known As:

The Pupil

Filming Locations:

Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Blue Films, La Sept Cinéma, Ocelot Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Actually a Henry James short story..

..which features ,like "the turn of the screw" -which Jack Clayton adapted for the screen under the title "the innocents" (1961)-, a private tutor and a child .But unlike Clayton's unforgettable movie,there is nothing supernatural here.

The film begins quite well,in a castle where ruined aristocrats eat macaroni in porcelaine .The young actor shines as the whizz kid who knows Latin grammar by heart and never had one friend before his teacher came.Particularly successful is the night scene which displays the child's strange culinary preparations.

But when the family has to leave the desirable castle,it's downhill and even the ending -which is not even faithful to James- does not redeem "l'élève".The film becomes a hodgepodge (hotchpotch) which fails totally to convince:from the ball with the old contessa to the French cancan in a brothel,what nonsense.

Fair-haired (dyed) Vincent Cassel is rather ugly,and is outshadowed by his young co-star.