The teacher, the pupil, the friend’s mother: the worries “In the house” of Ozon

ROMA – Mysterious, engaging, subtly disturbing like the style of the director who directed it: In the House, the original Francois Ozon thriller that is about to land in our cinemas, is one of those films that are really hard to classify. Populated by characters all alone, lost in their own way, it revolves around the relationship that is created between a professor (Fabrice Luchini, in fiction married to Kristin Scott Thomas) and one of his teenage students, well-trained and talented. And it is this strange boy who, in order to find material for his compositions, ends up sneaking into the life of a companion, weaving a bond with his mother (Emmanuelle Seigner).

WATCH THE FIRST 8 MINUTES OF THE FILM

IMAGES – TRAILER

An unconventional film, which continuously combines reality and fiction, in cinemas from tomorrow (April 18). And for those who want to get an idea of ​​the atmosphere and the stories of the film, Repubblica.it offers, in absolute exclusivity, the complete vision of the first 8 minutes of film (7 minutes and 44 seconds, if you want to be precise). For the many admirers of the French director, author of films such as Under the sand e Potiche – The beautiful figurine, an opportunity not to be missed.

And among the reasons for the charm of In the House, there are the performances of its actors. Not only of the interpreters of the two main male characters – the veteran Luchini and the surprising, very young Ernst Umhauer – but also of the female ones, only apparently accompanying: Ozon is a director who directs the actresses very well, and who has given away in the past great occasions at superdives like Catherine Deneuve and Charlotte Rampling. In particular, in this case, she gives Madame Polanski, Emmanuelle Seigner, a different role from her usual ones: “Often she embodies sensual but aggressive women – comments Ozon – while here she is very maternal, sweet and tender. We wanted her direct, naive, without a shred of perversity. A middle-class woman, as evidenced also by the hairstyles and makeup we gave her.

As for Emmanuelle, she claims to have found her character “funny”: “In the script she is a female figure difficult to identify, mysterious, floating. A decidedly passive girl, unlike me. She had to be built a lot, on a physical level: and me. I’m someone who never builds anything, on sets I do what I’m told to do. I’m not an actress who develops characters: I shouldn’t say it, but that’s the way it is. That’s why I often hate acting, and that I am also a singer: singing allows me to be much calmer than when I act, to let go “.

Beyond these perplexities, the fact remains that Seigner manages to be sensual even in this sweet and modest role, very far from her: “But I didn’t find myself sexy at all – she assures – in the end I improve a little, but when I saw the film I was shocked, I didn’t recognize myself at all. But it doesn’t matter: acting is not doing a fashion photo shoot. ” And on this, especially if there are directors like Ozon at stake, there is no doubt.