L'examen de minuit (1998)

When she lands up in the middle of nowhere, Séréna, a rather thoughtless young woman, is supposed to marry Hubert, a country squire she came into contact with through the classifieds in "Le... See full summary »

Director:

Danièle Dubroux

Writers:

Danièle Dubroux, Pascal Richou

Stars:

Julie Depardieu, François Cluzet, Serge Riaboukine

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Julie Depardieu	...	Séréna Dartois
François Cluzet	...	Antoine
Serge Riaboukine	...	Roland Dubois
Danièle Dubroux	...	Marianne Thomas
Jean-Christophe Bouvet	...	Le Vendeur du Manoir
Bruno Sermonne	...	Hubert
Naguime Bendidi	...	Naguim
Florence Giorgetti	...	La Femme de la librairie
Pascal Richou	...	Jérôme
Emile Durand	...	René
Christian Debruille	...	Le Clown
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Claude Delclaux
Michèle Demure	...	La pharmacienne
Pierre Desproges	...	Himself on TV (archive footage)
Jean-Luc Grangier	...	Le Banquier

Storyline

When she lands up in the middle of nowhere, Séréna, a rather thoughtless young woman, is supposed to marry Hubert, a country squire she came into contact with through the classifieds in "Le Chasseur Français", a magazine for hunters. But she gets to know Roland, a bachelor farmer who develops an instant burning passion for her. Prepared to do anything for her, he goes as far as to holdup banks to secure the good life she longs for. Although she confesses (wrongly) that she suffers from AIDS, he is in no way discouraged. Séréna accepts to marry Roland but on her wedding night she balks at taking the "midnight exam". She runs away and meets Antoine, a married writer, who hides her in the attic of his house, without his wife knowing it...

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

28 October 1998 (France)

Also Known As:

Midnight Exam

Filming Locations:

Dieulefit, Drôme, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+, Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC), Gémini Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

A naive French love affair

A young naive lady, tired to be alone, is looking for a husband in the classifieds. Her first contact returns to nothing but she decides to live in the region and takes a job as a waitress in the local pub. Soon a young shy farmer notices her and shy as he is, does not know how to propose to her for marriage. In a very strange way they finally end up married, but at the wedding night she lies about being infected with aids to avoid physical contact. That night she even leaves him for a walk in the park without him knowing. There she met a writer who she takes to dance and finally even to bed. She lives for a while in the same house of the writer's wife, without her knowing. The farmer is desperate. Some day the writer's wife finds out about the adultery and decides to look for the husband farmer.

The storytelling is very slow in the beginning, but at the end of the movie you'll probably would like to know how the story will end and you keep on watching, even if the end does not make sense at all. The narrative voice between dialogues is very annoying. I wonder why the director has used this rather strange technique.