The School Of Flesh (1998) Full Review

Film Scene Investigation

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Transcript

00:00hey everyone it's me beau back again for another cult movie review thank you so much for checking

00:20out this video hope you're all doing good now today i'm going to be reviewing a movie that

00:26many out there may have never seen before i literally just stumbled across it by chance

00:32and that movie is the school of flesh before we get into the review guys if you like the content

00:39that i do here please consider subscribing to the channel all the support is greatly appreciated

00:46so the school of flesh from 1998 was directed by the filmmaker benoit jaquit and was based

00:56on the 1963 novel by author yukiimo mashima actress isabel huper starred in the lead role alongside

01:06actors vincent martinez and francois berlund as for the narrative the movie was centered around a young

01:16man called quentin who works at a gay bar and yeah basically living his life not really up to much

01:25where one day he stumbled upon a woman called dominic who was played by huper they first spotted each

01:32other at the bar where quentin was working they blocked eyes but neither one of them initiated any

01:41conversation the following night dominic returned to the bar where she asked quentin to serve her a

01:49drink the two got talking and uh yeah it was quite clear that there was an immediate attraction they

01:58went out on a date and very quickly the two got romantically involved with each other which turned

02:06into this whirlwind romance now dominic was this middle-aged rich businesswoman that came from a wealthy

02:15background she was running her own business you know she was very successful the complete opposite to

02:23quentin who was this young guy a bartender who yeah had little to no money and did everything he could to

02:33basically earn some cash quentin even took it upon himself to actually pimp himself out to either men

02:43or women or women as long as they were willing to pay for it this disparity in wealth over time

02:52mounted it it caused a lot of issues between the two with dominic not wanting to see quentin struggle

03:01like he was i wouldn't say that the guy was down and out but um you know i mean he had a job and stuff

03:08like that but yeah obviously he was struggling from you know week to week trying to pay rent pay bills

03:16like all of us so yeah and obviously with dominic on the scene she was there to offer her support in

03:27any way she could eventually dominic moved quentin into her apartment where she financially supported him

03:35now you know that's quite a big commitment especially that you know they didn't really know each other

03:41that well but obviously dominic was head over heels for him and well she lived alone so it wasn't really

03:51a big issue now in fairness to quentin he accepted all the help that dominic was willing to provide

03:59you know i mean who could blame him but he also did constantly remind dominic that this was just a

04:08temporary thing and that even though he was grateful he wanted to stand on his own two feet

04:14you see quentin did genuinely like dominic and he didn't want to be seen you know taking advantage of her

04:24at this point though dominic was getting way too involved she was in her eyes you know trying to help

04:33someone but in actuality she was smothering quentin that only made him feel more miserable and distant

04:44towards her dominic continued with her overbearing ways by getting quentin a job and initiating him

04:53into the world of high fashion she landed quentin a job as a model and you know fair play to the guy

05:01he did try out he did attempt to you know live that lifestyle but uh you know deep down it just wasn't

05:11for him he was his own man he wasn't going to take orders from anyone and you know him being a private guy

05:21he kept a lot of things close to his chest he gave dominic very little information about his background

05:30and you know where he came from and what he's done before and all of that mystery just made dominic feel

05:39even more curious you know it wasn't enough just to live with the guy and you know call him your

05:46boyfriend no dominic wanted to know every single little detail about quentin's life she started

05:54stalking quentin you know keeping tabs on him every time he left the apartment it was some strange

06:02behavior and dominic did feel somewhat conflicted over what she was doing but she still went ahead with

06:09it anyway this however did backfire when dominic discovered that quentin had gone back to his old

06:18ways of selling himself on the street there he was standing on a street corner pimping himself out to

06:26whoever was willing to pay and dominic of course was very stunned by this given all of the support and

06:36all all the things that she'd done for him quentin didn't need to go back out on the streets he didn't

06:43need to sell his body for cash i mean he was financially supported by dominic but you see deep down

06:52quentin got a buzz he got a high from basically being a prostitute of course when dominic found this out

07:01she was very upset and you know who could blame her she cooked and cleaned for the guy you know she

07:09took him in when she didn't need to and well he basically betrayed her he lied to her pretending that

07:16he'd not gone out on the streets when in fact he did you know this moment was quite pivotal in the

07:24story because it was the moment in which dominic finally realized that her and quentin were just

07:33never gonna work out long term they were incompatible quentin was too independent he was too much of a

07:42free thinker and wasn't going to be held down by anyone as time went on more and more cracks started to

07:50emerge in their relationship with quentin acting more and more disinterested and dominic questioning

07:59why she even bothered in the first place dominic even went as far as to pay off quentin's debt

08:06but to him he just was continuously unhappy and never satisfied in some ways this was like a power

08:17struggle of sorts but it was nuanced you see quentin wasn't this evil twisted guy that was exploiting

08:25dominic and on the other hand dominic wasn't this lonely and desperate woman trying to find

08:33companionship in actuality their relationship was rather complex with each one trying to discover and

08:43find something that was missing in their own lives the two eventually split with quentin leaving the

08:50apartment to go and live with his new girlfriend maureen forpe who was played by roxanne musqueda

08:57this girl was literally about 15 she was a school girl and was head over heels for quentin a much older guy

09:09of course this came as a big shock to dominic when she found out i mean it was hard enough you know

09:15having quentin left her but he left her for a 15 year old school girl i mean yeah uh that definitely

09:23affected her deeply now dominic would attempt to regain some self-respect and start dating men of her own age

09:33but um it was hard it obviously wasn't something that she really wanted to do but she knew she had to

09:41move on eventually dominic had to just accept that her real love quentin just wasn't interested anymore

09:51it was a

09:53my dog has come to say hello say hello the ending to the movie had the story jump a few years into the

10:08future where dominic was now dating a man called david she seemed content and uh going about her day

10:17when she randomly bumped into quentin on the street they both seemed very surprised to see one another

10:25but what was even more surprising for dominic was that quentin now had a daughter he seemed happy

10:33he had moved on he was working in a hotel and that young guy you know had a chip on his shoulder

10:40who was miserable that guy was gone while of course dominic was happy for him deep down you could tell

10:50that she was heartbroken over what could have been now the absence of motherhood was a central theme in

10:59this film and was explored through the dominic character she was a divorced woman who never had any

11:08children so once she was in that relationship with quentin as i mentioned earlier she mothered him

11:16her motherly instincts kicked in and dominic couldn't help but be you know the over caring and over

11:24predictive person that she was it was quite clear to me that dominic deep down wanted a child

11:32wanted a child of her own so she could be the mother that she's always wanted to be she had concentrated

11:41so hard on her career you know becoming this big success in the fashion industry that motherhood had

11:50passed her by so going back to the ending of the film when dominic saw quentin with his child

11:56it was a harsh reminder of what was missing in her own life for all we know there may have been a

12:05medical reason as to why dominic never had children but that was never established what i will say though

12:12is if the background was kind of fleshed out more i think it would have made the ending feel even more

12:20compelling when it comes to the performances in the film i have to give credit to the lead actress

12:27isabel huppert who once again impressed me with her performance as dominic huppert was able to capture

12:35this desperation this vulnerability in her characterization of dominic that made her feel

12:43very relatable i'm not going to deny that there are a lot better isabel huppert performances

12:49out there in other films but still i thought when it come to the school of flesh she gave a solid

12:56and understated performance i guess the only thing that i wasn't really into was her hairstyle um

13:04that yeah short cropped hairstyle that was in the film and i just didn't think it suited her

13:10of course this film was made in the late 90s when that was quite fashionable for women to you know

13:16cut all their hair off and spike up and stuff um but yeah i just didn't like it she looks a lot better

13:22with uh longer hair actor vincent martinez who played quentin delivered a quietly intense performance

13:30acting alongside huppert i did feel some sympathy for quentin because he did seem quite lost throughout

13:39the whole film that he was trying to find some sort of meaning or purpose in his life and eventually

13:46he did in fatherhood once he at the end of the film we saw him with his child and that obviously changed

13:54him emotionally and mentally he suddenly was a respectable parent which was the complete opposite of

14:02when we first saw him the actor vincent martinez isn't someone i'm too familiar with but um i thought

14:09for the most part he did a pretty pretty good job acting alongside a more established star in isabel

14:15huppert when it comes to the practical side of things i thought the cinematographer caroline champetier

14:22did a pretty good job giving us some pretty interesting visuals throughout with dramas like this a lot of the

14:29time the cinematography and the aesthetic can be an afterthought a lot of these types of films tend to

14:36focus on you know story and characterization but it was good to see that this movie and champetier did

14:44make an effort in trying to enhance the visual elements i also liked the use of the intimate camera

14:53work that we saw throughout the film with many different close-ups of the characters

14:59showing the detailed nuances of their performance the various close-ups allowed the actors to

15:06rely less on the dialogue but more about their you know physical acting abilities and i think taking

15:14away some of the dialogue and allowing some scenes to just you know breathe on their own it definitely

15:20added a lot of realism and so dislikes for the school of flesh from 1998.

15:26my biggest dislike for the film would have to be that the story at times felt very underdeveloped there

15:34were certain things that were introduced but uh they never really evolved into anything substantial

15:42for example the relationship that quentin had with his lawyer who was played by actor francois berland

15:50the two met and grew a close bond and clearly there was some history something going on between the

15:59two that was alluded to but um yeah we never really found out what actually went on i kind of got the

16:07impression that maybe quentin and his lawyer had some sort of sexual relationship and that they were no

16:15longer talking or in contact because they had broken up that was what i kind of got from it but um hey

16:24that may not have been what actually happened another example was quentin's relationship with

16:31marianna thorpe now this was a 15 year old school girl played by roxanne musqueda and i just felt that as

16:39soon as it was introduced it didn't go anywhere i felt that there was a lot of story to tell with this

16:47love triangle that was suddenly introduced but uh yeah once again not established just hinted at

16:54and that was it and so ratings for the school of flesh from 1998 i'm gonna be rating this movie

17:04a 4.5 out of 10. the school of flesh was an intriguing character study on how desire can be both

17:13liberating and destructive one thing i did like about the movie was its criticism of this whole

17:21business woman independent mindset that we saw emerge in the 90s that whole idea you know the career

17:29woman i feel it hurt what is fundamental to our society which is the nuclear family if you're a fan

17:38of isabel huper and her work i think that you will enjoy the school of flesh as her presence alone is

17:47enough to keep you engaged with the story if any of you guys out there have seen the school of flesh

17:53please let me know your thoughts and memories in the comments section below for those out there who

17:59haven't it is a recommendation from me but um yeah i can't say it's amazing it definitely has its

18:07flaws but then again it's still better than most of the stuff we see on streaming today and well that's

18:14all from me today guys i do hope you've enjoyed this review of the school of flesh from 1998.

18:20i'll be back next week don't forget to subscribe

18:33you

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