Review: In The House / Dans La Maison

In The House / Dans La Maison
Cert: 15 / 105 mins / Dir. François Ozon



I've learned a lesson today. I've found my line. It's at my local multiplex, watching the sequel to G.I. Joe in eye-straining 3D. Leaving aside my grumbles with the Independent Cinema which was to be my venue for the film*¹, I probably didn't bond with Dans La Maison as much as the director intended.

The short version is, I found it hard to like the central character, the school-teacher Germain, and he's the one we're supposed to be relating to. And if I can't get along with him, you can only imagine how I felt about the others; the flawed, oblivious, lying, narcissistic characters which flesh out two hours of deliberately ambiguous, depressing whimsy. Outside of these, I didn't particularly enjoy the story, either in narrative or in subtext. I'd like to think it's a cultural difference, but I know it isn't; it's an entirely personal disconnect.

But, at its core, Dans La Maison is a story about writing, itself. I found it extremely irritating that Germain frequently berates his protegé, Claud, for using form over content when the film I was watching had a patchy form and next to no content. It felt a little like a concussion sufferer trying to recount details of an accident he barely remembers being in; disjointed, confusing, and ultimately aimless.

At the end of the two hours, as the credits rolled, I thought to myself 'what have I gained from the story I've just watched?. With the best will in the world, the answer is fuck all.

There are shades of Ruby Sparks, except that it all pretty much happens as you see it, and you can't like anyone on screen. So that's all good, then.

I feel no shame whatsoever in longing for Iron Man 3 at my local Cineworld.



Kinda.



Not really.



Probably. Just not what I want it to achieve.



Pfff. DVD, I suppose.



Oh, yes..



Nope.



I wish.





*¹ I'll save that for another post.

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