Isabelle Huppert in The School of Flesh (1998)

Clips

Pics

Review

A middle aged female executive goes to a club with her friend and they spot a good-looking bartender. Suddenly obsessed with the good-looking dude, our heroine (Isabelle Huppert) takes him home and offers to let him stay with her. Which you’d kind of understand if he was the sort of guy you’d piss on if he were on fire. But he’s not. This kid (Vincent Martinez) is such a pain in the ass that I wanted to slap him down from beginning to end.

He treats Huppert like crap, splits his time between a video game arcade and walking the streets as a male prostitute and generally snarls at anything and everything that could be considered good. Why a woman who is attractive, smart, reasonably wealthy and mentally together would suddenly opt to hang out with this piece of excrement is utterly beyond me but that’s the question that School Of Flesh wants us, as the audience, to consider.

So fine then, I considered and came to the conclusion that this is one tough movie to get through, if only because so much of what happens occurs over and over again. Huppert investigates where this guy came from, what he does when she’s not around, then investigates more, then he comes home and treats her like crap, she cries, they screw, he leaves, repeat.

But if it sounds interminable, it’s not. In the lead role, Isabelle Huppert excels, as always. That’s a good thing, since the camera seems to zoom right in on her face at least once a minute, examining every speck of age she’s accrued over the years in the most unflattering fashion. Sans make-up and generally looking worn, Huppert gives her all regardless, right down to several revealing love-making scenes. But it’s the alluring Roxanne Mesquida that will steal the hearts of thousands, as the young miss that eventually lures asshole-boy away. A more beautiful face you’ll seldom find gracing any screen.

Like Requiem for a Dream or the Basketball Diaries, School of Flesh is one of those films that, when you watch it, you’ll acknowledge that it’s a well made, well performed affair with a worthwhile message but when you think back the desire to watch it again will be practically non-existent. It’s an ordeal – a worthy ordeal to be sure but an ordeal nonetheless.

Nudity Report: Both Isabelle Huppert and Roxanne Mesquida display their fair share of nudity in School of Flesh and both are worth waiting for. Huppert, though getting on in years, rides the pink pony in no uncertain terms as she gives her younger man what for, showing breast and a chunky butt, while the nubile Mesquida goes topless as she’s changing clothes in a store. Mmm-mmm! Suddenly I feel like a peach.

Ratings: Ebert: 3/4, Berardinelli: 3/4, Apollo: 55/100, IMDB: 7.3/10, Amazon: 4.3/5, OZ: 4/5 - A movie that’s tough to love but tough to deny.

Box Office: Released in North America on February 26 1999, The School of Flesh earned a tidy $402,000 while never getting on to many more than 7 screens.

Versions: CABLE TV/VHS/DVD – While there is a region 1 DVD version of this film, it’s currently out of print, so any chance you’re going to have of seeing it will depend on the cable TV schedule or the likelihood of you purchasing the VHS version. It’s worth a look, regardless.


Written by: OZ