Between the wars and at the beginning of the Great
Depression, we meet Paul (Jean Scandel in his film debut), who is an orphan living
in some godforsaken prison-like facility on the outskirts of Paris. It’s a hellish place, the times are hard —
and about to get even tougher — but it is all that he has ever known.
Thus begins writer/director Nicolas Vanier’s School of
Life, a Distrib Films release heading to this
shores on Apr. 9 courtesy of Icarus Films.
The film had a very limited arthouse run during the
post-Labor Day period of this past year and arrives in the home entertainment
marketplace virtually unseen by domestic audiences. For the record, the ARR is 214 days.
Paul’s about to catch a life-changing break, it will
take him a bit to recognize it, but there it is nonetheless in the form of a
woman by the name of Célestine (Valérie Karsenti — Modern
Love, How Much Do You Love Me?, etc.). She is visiting the orphanage and happens to
see, Paul a defiant young boy being smacked across the face for some offense,
which is all she needs to scoop him up and take him home.
The young boy is mystified to find himself living
with Célestine and Borel (Eric Elmosnino — Gainsbourg:
A Heroic Life, La Famille Bélier) in
the middle of nowhere. He has spent his
entire life in what amounts to a prison and now he’s in the woods; in the wilds
… and Borel is the gamekeeper for this vast track of land.
Out there in the forest, perhaps in the meadows some
where, is Totoche (played by France’s acting icon — nominated 11 times for César
Awards — François Cluzet), the bane of Borel’s existence. He’s a poacher, but more than that he is at
one with nature. Naturally, Paul finds
his way to Borel’s nemesis and a teacher/student relationship is formed; a
friendship. Paul, with Totoche’s help
and guidance, will learn how lucky he is to be in this “strange” and marvelous
place.
School of Life, a
gorgeously-filmed coming-of-age tale, is presented in French with English
subtitles.
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