In the House (Dans la maison), directed by the consistently exciting Francois Ozon, is a delicious cinematic game. At its heart are Claude, an ace maths student at the Lycee Gustave Flaubert, with an unexpected flair for creative writing, and his French tutor, Germain (played by Fabrice Luchini). At first puzzled and worried about the subject matter of Claude’s writing assignments, in which he chooses to describe in ever increasing detail the lives of his school friend Rapha and his family by manipulating his way into their home, the teacher-student relationship quickly develops into one of complicity, as Germain tries to hone the skills he perceives Claude to possess.
Tension quickly develops, as Claude’s desires and fantasies threaten the lives of those around him. He is charming, intelligent, effortlessly manipulative and a great danger. One of Ozon’s greatest successes is that as viewers, we are never able to second guess Claude who becomes ever more entangled in his half-imagined world, just like his tutor. The boundaries between reality and fiction become more ambiguous as the film continues and this perhaps is the film’s principal theme: the relationship between fiction and reality; the role it plays in our lives and the damage it can do if the equilibrium in that relationship is destroyed.
There are many other players in the game Claude initiates, ranging from Rapha, his father and his mother, to his tutor Germain and art-dealer wife (played impeccably by Kristin Scott Thomas). But this is only one of the two stages for this game because at another narrative level,Ozon is embroiling us in a game of his own. We (just like Claude, Germain and his wife who shares in Claude’s stories) become voyeurs, manipulated increasingly by a gleeful director.
Ozon has made a fun piece of intellectual entertainment in this film. He is a formidable director with a great range. I personally consider his masterpiece to be 5×2, but this is not to the detriment of his other work: 8 Women, Under The Sand and Swimming Pool are all commendable. As is this, although perhaps this is his most shallow film to date. There is great fun to be had, and the film abounds with intelligence and wit. But I cannot get away from the feeling that there is more style than substance, certainly on an emotional level. Yet Ozon’s sparkling, playful humour ensures that this is always an entertaining, interesting watch.
15 Certificate
Review by LiveWire Young Film Critic, James Martin (March ’13)