Philip Van der Veken
If there is one thing you can't blame the creators of this movie of, than it must be the fact that their movie is too sugar sweet. This is certainly not like any other romantic Hollywood movie that you may have seen in the past. This movie is actually a very good study of people and human nature in not so average but very recognizable situations."L'École de la Chair" or "The School of Flesh" could be the title of a cheap porn movie, but it certainly isn't. This is an intelligent movie about a mature fashion executive called Dominique who gets obsessed with Quentin, a bisexual male prostitute. He's a violent man who loves nobody but himself and yet she can't resist him. She is filled with passion, but hates the man at the same time because he always hurts her feelings and doesn't seem to love or care about her. What should she do? Should she show him the door or keep trying to get him out of the prostitution? Should she listen to her friends, colleagues, Quentin's former and current clients... who all try to help her, but sometimes do more harm than good? Although I would like to say that everybody should watch this movie, I know for sure that not many will like it. This isn't the kind of movie that will easily reach a large audience. Nevertheless this is an interesting movie, but I guess it will be loved most by people who are used to watch this kind of movies or people who like the European cinema. Personally I liked what I saw and that's why I give it a 7.5/10.
mcfan25
I really enjoyed watching this film because of the passion and sensuality it portrays. I have been watching BRAVO for quite a while now and when it showed this film, I fell in love with it. It starts out strange but gets deeper as you realize just how much in love these two characters are. The ending is a little bit sad and so if you enjoy sensuality this is your film.
Gonzalo Melendez (gonz30)
A superb study of a mature woman's knowledge of her inner self, and acting out on instinct, regardless of the consequences, THE SCHOOL OF FLESH is memorable. Isabelle Huppert, at home playing cold, calculated women, shines as the mature woman, supported by fine performances, notably by Vincent Lindon, in a highly atypical role, and professional direction by veteran Benoit Jacquot.
buff-29
Isabelle Huppert is as beautiful as ever, but it is hard to see why her character does the things she does in this confused tale of cross-generational lovers. As a middle-aged businesswoman, Huppert takes a much younger bisexual bartender/hustler into her home, pays his debts, buys him clothes. He never seems to treat her well enough to justify her generosity, and he never seems interesting or lovable enough to justify her affection. It all comes unravelled eventually, after enough nude love scenes to keep most of the audience awake most of the time.
AD
