A fairy-tale quality imbues filmmaker Nicolas Vanier’s period piece about a French orphan whisked off to a new life in the countryside in the years following World War I. Paul (Jean Scandel) is removed from a Paris orphanage—where he was placed after his father’s death in combat—by Célestine (Valérie Karsenti), a supposed relative from the Loire Valley who he will stay with for the summer. She is the wife of Borel (Éric Elmosnino), a surly gamekeeper on the estate of the local count (François Berléand) in whose kitchen Celeste also works. But the boy quickly bonds with Totoche (François Cluzet), the scruffy local poacher who is Borel’s long-time nemesis, despite the fact that the count tolerates and even protects Totoche. The count, who has long grieved over a daughter who ran away because he did not approve of the man she loved, gets to know Paul and appreciates the lad’s love of the land and wildlife, although a secret about Paul’s lineage eventually emerges that could change the destructive plans that the nobleman's son has for the estate after his father’s death. School of Life boasts a shamelessly feel-good ending, but the cast is so winning and the locations so beautiful that only the worst sort of curmudgeon could respond to it with anything but a smile. Recommended. (F. Swietek)
School of Life
Icarus, 116 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $26.99, Apr. 9 Volume 34, Issue 4
School of Life
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