In The House
Francois Ozon
The story: Claude (Ernst Umhauer) insinuates himself with a classmate Rapha (Bastien Ughetto) and gets invited to his home. He then writes about Rapha and his parents (Emmanuelle Seigner, Denis Menochet) for a school assignment. Teacher Germain (Fabrice Luchini) is intrigued by the voyeuristic essay and encourages Claude to keep writing. Unexpected consequences follow. Based on the play The Boy Who Sat In The Last Row by Juan Mayorga.

French writer-director Francois Ozon sets up a twisted little premise here and then lets it unfold in a darkly delicious manner.
The first time Germain reads about Rapha and his family in Claude’s essay, he gets a little concerned about the detailed description of an intrusion into someone else’s house. Even more troubling is the superior smirking tone of the essay which sets off alarm bells.
And yet, he is intrigued. Compared to the usual dross that is submitted, Claude’s writing has a spark. The whole “peeping through a keyhole” voyeurism transfixes him, and the audience. Each essay ends with the tantalising “To be continued”, and like Germain, the viewer wants to know more.
Is Claude a skilful manipulator or just an awkward, if talented, teenager? Is he imagining what is happening at Rapha’s house or is he faithfully recording events as they occur?
The set-up is also used to satirise the creative process.
At times, it even feels like a meta-commentary on the movie itself as when Germain expounds on what makes for a good ending.
Since this is a film by Ozon, who directed the sexy thriller Swimming Pool (2003) , there are also sexual undertones that gradually bubble to the surface.
Claude is attracted to Rapha’s mother, “the most bored woman in the world”. He shares an intimate moment with Rapha and there are hints of an attraction with the father even.
It prompts Germain to exclaim in exasperation that Claude seems to have wandered into a Pasolini movie. And Germain’s wife asks him point blank whether he desires Claude.
The cast is uniformly good from Fabrice Luchini (The Women On The 6th Floor, 2010) as the well-intentioned but misguided teacher to relative newcomer Ernst Umhauer whose enigmatic Claude keeps one guessing, to English actress Kristin Scott Thomas (Salmon Fishing In The Yemen, 2011) in a French-speaking role as Germain’s sceptical wife.
They bring the various characters to life as curiosity, creativity and perversity are blended together in this compelling tale.
(ST)