Director: Jean Paul Civeyrac
Cast: Andranic Manet, Corentin Fila, Gonzague Van Bervesseles, Sophie Verbeeck
Country: France
“It is easy to mock intellectual sobriety, but A Paris Education takes on this scepticism and then takes no notice.”
It’s easy to be seduced by the photogenic location and cast, and just as easy to be aggravated by the pretentious, self-absorption of the young, film undergraduates who, in supercilious tones, argue the pros and cons of various New Wave Cinema and the merits of their respective auteurs. It is equally easy to mock intellectual sobriety, but A Paris Education takes on this scepticism and then takes no notice.
The students are passionate about Tarkovsky, Pasolini and Bresson and contemptuous of disagreement. It is crucial to rise above this discomfort to experience a beautifully shot film as well as a brief history of cinema discussed by the young idealists and reflected in the Parisian setting and cinematography. Better still, all the angst and the seriousness, far from being ridiculous turns out to be profound and haunting.
When the photogenic Etienne (Andranic Manet) meets his pre-Raphaelite match (Sophie Verbeeck), the unravelling of love and loss begins in this beautifully shot, black and white homage to everything Tarkovsky, directed by Jean Paul Civeyrac.
@CapitalReviewer