The French film directed by the cult director François Ozon is based on the play The Boy in the Last Desk by Juan Mayorga. The film received many prizes at various top film festivals, and many critics elevated the picture to the rank of Ozone’s best work. The films of this director always contain a satirical look at the vices of society and show the inner sexuality of the characters, which breaks out.
What is “In the House” about?
The movie shows us an unusual relationship between a teacher and his student, who is sitting on the last desk. In appearance, an inconspicuous and quiet boy, he enters into the confidence of his teacher of literature and begins a close friendship with him. The guy likes to observe the life of his classmate and take a direct part in it. He not only observes, but also begins to write a novel about it.
The film shows a list of dramatic events, colored with elements of a thriller. To keep the viewer in constant suspense, the creators added disturbing music that the composer Philippe Rombi wrote specifically for this picture.
Music reveals the inner state of the characters and helps to better understand the turmoil of the soul of each character. Particular emphasis is directed to the boy’s gaze. This is a very deep, sometimes even mystical look, which at the same time frightens the viewer and immediately arouses admiration, because in this look his secret desires are hidden, which one so wants to unravel.
Explanation of the meaning of the film “In the House”
The meaning of the film “In the house” (2012) directed by Francois Ozon. The film is not so easy to interpret with a single version. No wonder Francois Ozon himself spoke out that he could not give an exact definition of why his heroes do this. The viewer himself will find a definition and explanation for each act. Let’s consider several possible versions.
Fantasy and reality
In this picture, it is hard to recognize where reality ends and fiction begins. At first it seems to the viewer that everything that happens is quite real, but thanks to the director’s moves, the understanding gradually comes that certain moments are the boy’s fantasy. This happens due to the appearance in the frame of people who should not be there. There are also a number of events that seem not entirely believable to the viewer.
Ozone explains this by the fact that all people live much more comfortably in a fantasy world. Sometimes the reality is so hard that it is much easier to close your eyes and just escape from the current problems for a while. That’s why it’s always so interesting to read different stories in books and watch movies – people like to watch other people’s lives and fantasize about their own.
The theme of fantasies in the film is very philosophical, because the author of the film believes that fantasies are insanely important for us and even useful. Although they also need to know the measure, which we observe in the example of the main character. The boy has played with fantasy, reality and the fictional world are mixed up in his head, he is ready to turn into reality things that should always remain only fiction.
The family as a model of our society
Francois Ozon pays a big role in the film to the family. A couple of people living together is a small model of all human relationships. The ideal or correct family in the house that the protagonist was so delirious about getting into – is it really like that? But only people who are together in the same house cause such a violent outburst of emotions in the boy. Separately, they do not interest him.
In his youth, Francois Ozon tried in every possible way to destroy the very idea of the family, and now he presents us with this single house with a husband, wife and their child and shows how important this connection is. Even if there are disagreements between them, and sometimes even scandals.
After all, this family has a certain inner strength, and she was able to survive after a strange child broke into the house itself and alarmed all his household members. And although dad and son were more indifferent to what was happening, the mother of the family showed firmness that the audience did not expect from her.
How does the explain movie “In the House” ending?
Has the student surpassed his teacher? The question is also left to the viewer. The depth of the whole ending is shown in the last frames, where the publisher and the creator meet again, or the director and his ward. Francois Ozon remade the plot of the play in his own way – in the original, the teacher forever forgets about the existence of his student, he brought too much pain into his life and took everything he had.
The film has a more optimistic ending. They are together again. Because a student cannot write without a teacher, because he writes for someone to read it. And the teacher now wants a new, even stronger work, because to some extent they create it together. And they both seem to enjoy their creativity. This is their life, which has now disproportionately flowed into fantasy, where one is inseparable from the other.
They have already crossed the line between an ordinary student and his teacher, and their relationship has been transformed into a deeper one. Now they are partners who are passionate about one idea – they are interested in other people’s lives. Both of them are gnawed by only one thought: “To be continued …”. After all, there is always some way to get into any house …
