La belle personne (2008)

Sixteen-year old Junie changes high school mid-year, following the death of her mother. She finds herself in the same class as her cousin Mathias, who introduces her to his friends. All the... See full summary »

Director:

Christophe Honoré

Writers:

Christophe Honoré (scenario), Gilles Taurand (scenario),

Stars:

Louis Garrel, Léa Seydoux, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Louis Garrel	...	Nemours
Léa Seydoux	...	Junie
Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet	...	Otto
Esteban Carvajal-Alegria	...	Matthias
Simon Truxillo	...	Henri
Agathe Bonitzer	...	Marie
Anaïs Demoustier	...	Catherine
Valérie Lang	...	Florence Perrin
Jacob Lyon	...	Jacob
Jean-Michel Portal	...	Estouteville
Martin Siméon	...	Martin
Chantal Neuwirth	...	Nicole - la patronne du café Sully
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Louka Anargyros
Thomas Anargyros
Gabriel Attal

Storyline

Sixteen-year old Junie changes high school mid-year, following the death of her mother. She finds herself in the same class as her cousin Mathias, who introduces her to his friends. All the boys want to date Junie, and she chooses the quietest among them, Otto Cleves. But soon after, she encounters the great love of her life, Nemours, her Italian teacher. The passion that burns between them is, however, doomed. Junie refuses to give in to her feelings and persists in denying herself happiness, which in her eyes is merely illusory.

---

Plot Keywords:

italian teacher | high school | love | school | teacher student relationship | 

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Details

Official Sites:

Le Pacte [fr]

Country:

France

Language:

French Italian English Russian

Release Date:

6 March 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Bela Junie

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arte France, Scarlett Production, Scarlett Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene in which Junie enters a café and smiles briefly at a woman, the woman she is smiling at is Chiara Mastroianni. Mastroianni played Catherine de Clèves in _La Lettre (1999)_, another adaptation of La Princesse de Clèves which _La Belle Personne (2008)_ was based on.

---

Connections

Features Yaaba (1989)

---

Soundtracks

"Elle était si jolie"
Written by Alain Barrière
Copyright 1963 Warner Chappell Music France

User Reviews

Back on Form

Christopher Honoré's La belle personne is a compelling curiosity; transposing the courtly world of Madame de La Fayette's classic 17th century story, La Princess de Cleves to a modern-day French lyceé (with its own courtyard), the film is a compelling observation of "courtly" love in a postmodern world; although it would be convincing to argue La belle personne is not very modern in its presentation of present-day bourgeoise Parisian etudiants. This is a world that exists in its own hermetically-sealed bubble, free from Facebook and the internet. It's a world where 60s navel-gazing reigns supreme.

The film follows the tribulations love brings, or perhaps more realistically, the tribulations of what one perceives as 'love', even if it's unconsummated. The title alludes to 17-year-old Junie (Léa Seydoux), whose aura and presence recalls a ghostly incarnation of Godard's muse Anna Karina (Perhaps a self-conscious homage to Godard by the FEMIS-teaching Honoré?). Following the death of her mother, Junie refuses to live with her father (for unknown reasons), choosing instead to live with her cousin, Mathias, in a haute-bourgeoisie Parisian arrondisement close to the school she and Mathias attend. ' Soon enough Junie becomes the default objet d'amour for the male etudiants, namely love-sick Otto (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet) at first.

However, she soon troubles the cad-in-school Italian teacher, Nemours (the lanky yet ever-foppish Louis Garrel) with her otherworldly presence, prompting him to quickly end two amorous entanglements with a middle-aged fellow teacher and a stubborn 16-year-old female student. However, as one would expect fron the source material, tragedy foreshadows this story but it does not detract from this near-perfect made-for-TV drama.

Every performance is realistic and natural. Special kudos to Garrel and Sedoyx for their work here. Honore follows the mis-step that was Chansons D'amour with this elegant, masterfully composed concoction; even if you could argue La belle personne seems to be an inverse reworking of Chansons. With the ensemble of regulars (Garrel, Hesme, Mastroianni, Leprine-Ringuet etc), traversing both films, La belle personne perversely feels like a sequel somehow taking place in a parallel world to Chansons. In spite of some questionable if strained directorial nods to the Nouvelle Vague (mentioning them would spoil the end), Honoré shows restraint and an uncharacteristic sense of detachment. The way he directs Seydoux is a revelation. Her ghostly presence haunts the film in every aspect and should be noted as a performance of great integrity and resolve from this promising actress. As a modern-day exploration of courtly love, La belle personne, is worth seeing numerous times to catch the many subtleties it withholds on first viewing.