Screened as part of NZIFF 2013

In the House 2012

Dans la maison

Directed by François Ozon

Fabrice Luchini and Kristin Scott Thomas star in a juicy black comedy-drama by François Ozon. “A witty, naughty, insight-packed provocation which never takes its seriousness too seriously.” — Time Out London

France In French with English subtitles
105 minutes CinemaScope / DCP

Director

Producers

Eric Altmayer
,
Nicolas Altmayer

Screenplay

François Ozon. Freely adapted from the play The Boy in the Last Row by Juan Mayorga

Photography

Jérôme Alméras

Editor

Laure Gardette

Production designer

Arnaud de Moleron

Costume designer

Pascaline Chavanne

Sound

Brigitte Taillandier

Music

Philippe Rombi

With

Fabrice Luchini (Germain)
,
Ernst Umhauer (Claude)
,
Kristin Scott Thomas (Jeanne)
,
Emmanuelle Seigner (Esther)
,
Denis Ménochet (Rapha Sr)
,
Bastien Ughetto (Rapha Jr)
,
Jean-François Balmer (the principal)
,
Yolande Moreau (the twins)
,
Catherine Davenier (Anouk)

Festivals

Toronto, San Sebastián, London 2012

Awards

Best Film, San Sebastián International Film Festival 2012
,
International Critics’ Award, Toronto International Film Festival 2012

Elsewhere

In François Ozon’s juicy black comedy-drama schoolteacher Germain (Fabrice Luchini, as drolly doleful as ever) and art dealer Jeanne (Kristin Scott Thomas, as poised and incisive) play a jaded married couple seduced by the story-telling talents of a precocious young student. Claude (Ernst Umhauer), it transpires, is not only a spellbinding writer, he is also a first-class undercover spy and voyeur. He has inveigled himself into the household of Rapha, a rather gormless schoolmate, in order to furnish himself with narrative material – and indulge his fascination with Rapha’s gorgeous mother (Emmanuelle Seigner). Captivated by the vicarious thrill of it all, the reckless Germain encourages his protégé’s violations of Rapha’s trust to tease out more revealing stories.

As the inevitable complications multiply, Ozon offers a mordant take on the amorality and unreliability of the author, himself included. He layers the tales and the telling of them so that we’re never entirely sure what’s actually happening chez Rapha, and what Claude is making up to entice Germain and Jeanne (for whom the stories have become a titillating bedtime serial). Freely adapted by Ozon from Spanish playwright Juan Mayorga’s The Boy in the Last Row, this is a much more finely tuned vehicle than his recent Potiche, perfectly cast and very deftly delivered.

“It seems not just against the odds but against the laws of nature that a film as bookish, as suburban, and as self-consciously clever as In the House should also be such fun.” — Anthony Lane, New Yorker