Marvin ou la belle education (2017)

Directed by: Anne Fontaine | 115 minutes | drama | Actors: Finnegan Oldfield, Grégory Gadebois, Vincent Macaigne, Catherine Salée, Jules Porier, Catherine Mouchet, Charles Berling, Isabelle Huppert, Sharif Andoura, India Hair, Luna Lou, Yannick Morzelle, Lorenzo Lefèbvre, Cécile Rebboah, Oscar Pessans, Lucas Mercier, Roman Kane, Timeo Bolland, Richard Brunel

Young Marvin doesn’t have it easy. Like a young cuckoo, the sensitive and delicate Marvin lives in a much too small house in a village in France. The environment and family seem to have run away from ‘The unhappiness of things’. Marvin’s father looks like an expelled member of a motorcycle club, his mother has something like Mom Flodder, his half-brother is not a very smart brute and then there is also an inconspicuous brother walking around. It doesn’t surprise you when a sister shows up halfway through the film. One day, the headmistress of Marvin’s school discovers that her student is more at home on stage than in the classroom. So Marvin leaves for drama school in the big city.

In the drama ‘Marvin ou la belle éducation’, scenes of the young Marvin alternate with those of the young adult. The latter is working on a solo performance about his origins. He is supported in this by drama teacher Abel and his lively partner Pierre. At the same time, Marvin has a relationship with the rich Roland and he meets the great actress Isabelle Huppert, played here by the great actress Isabelle Huppert.

Marvin’s development follows familiar roads: bullied at school, hopeless courtship with a girl, flourishing in new surroundings, harsh upbringing in love, break with familiar surroundings. The fact that the story manages to captivate is due to the natural acting cast, the lifelike dialogues and the lack of pronounced drama. So fitting in the oeuvre of Anne Fontaine (‘Coco avant Chanel’, ‘Les innocentes’), which is characterized by dramatic modesty and lifelike characters.

‘Marvin ou la belle éducation’ is also a film about contradictions. Countryside versus Paris, workers versus intellectuals, homosexuality versus the straight variety. A less common contrast is that between film and stage (better still, between image and word). While Marvin is writing his solo performance, we see images from his childhood projected onto a screen behind him. Once on stage, those events lose their lifelikeness and the drama is flooded with a deluge of words. Less nuance, and therefore less convincing.

‘Marvin ou la belle éducation’ will not cause much controversy, but it is a film that you will enjoy watching. A bit of humor, nice music and strong acting, in a rhythm that fits perfectly with the drama. Never heavenly, always pleasant.