Pretty Good

Just perfect...

As Good As It Gets

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Noce Blanche is a story where a philosophy teacher falls in love with a "wayward" 17-year-old student of his. Viewings of this will likely be motivated by the subject matter, however the film does offer up substantial insight into the human condition. What is very interesting about children, especially bright ones, is that they can see through the hypocrisies of the adult world through all our false pride and double standards, and love means everything to them. They are trumped by the muscularity, cynicism, experience and judgement of adults. But they see through us, Mathilde sees straight away that François, despite a wife, career, and friends, is completely alone in the world, she sees it because it is obvious and she has not been desensitised.There are two particularly interesting philosophical ideas that come up in François' classes, that we are the unknowing accomplices of our "other self" the subconscious, prisoners of its fate, and also that people who choose to study metaphysics, choose death, as a preference over life.The aesthetics of the movie are very subtle, it could easily be mistaken for one of those French dramas where the camera is simply pointed at the actors, but there is a palette of blue and greys here, and I ended up freezing the view a few times to admire the stills. It is far from being ostentatious or mannered however.The story ends up feeling quite Grecian in the end, but who am I to say unrealistic, reality is almost always stranger than fiction. Works for purposes of titillation for sure, but also has great depths. Two successful watches in a row from Brisseau for me, following on from The Girl From Nowhere, more adventures to come!

It's been over a decade since I saw this film, but I do remember it rather fondly. It showed sensitivity for the characters as well as the subject matter, instead of being exploitative. At the same time, it was quite frank in dealing with the story and of course, it ends tragically. I also remember being impressed with Vanessa Paradis, both for playing a difficult role deftly, and for her physical beauty. It was only recently that I became aware of her real-life relationship (being Johnny Depp's girlfriend).I would love to see the film again, but it seems it hasn't been widely circulated on DVD, and the R2 disc is hard to find. What a pity.

I remember seeing this movie for the first time and about 15 more times over the years. When I was young it was a lot because of Vanessa's beauty and slightly because of the plot. Over the years the truth behind the story, the way the film unfolds, made me realize how emotional I get every time I see it. It's something all of us have gone through in one form or another. My heart went out to Mathilde and her feelings. Add to that the scenery and the atmosphere and you have the perfect tear bearer movie. Excellent acting and wise choice of actors make the movie very believable. You sympathize with all the characters and feel there emotions. A great movie for a rainy night.

This film was outrageous, about a teacher acting on the advances of a minor. Even though the minor played by Vanessa Paradis who was 17 at the time of acting this part was sexually aggressive this does not excuse the teacher, a man in the position of power, from allowing himself to be drawn into her web. The minor was a little mentally unstable but very intelligent and unconventional to say the least. He should have offered her love and support but not sex. This is an interesting film, though, very watchable if totally unrealistic and amoral.