Emmanuelle Bercot's César-winning, nature-nurture coming-of-age drama, STANDING TALL

One of the things TrustMovies likes best about the films of actress/writer/director Emmanuelle Bercot -- Backstage, Student Services, (her episode of) The Players, On My Way and now STANDING TALL -- is how willing Ms Bercot is to simply jump in head first and start swimming until she reaches the other shore. She may not be the most artistic, stylish, realistic or brilliant of filmmakers, but her movies are always worth seeing because she gets the job done. She tackles her subjects honestly, draws excellent performances from her casts, and makes us think hard and consider the many possibilities implicit in the subject matter she chooses to film.

All this is true once again, perhaps even more so, in her latest work, which is all about how a young boy -- we first meet him as an (at least verbally) abused child of around five years old -- grows slowly, very slowly, into a somewhat autonomous young man. Ms Bercot (the filmmaker is shown at left) begins her movie with only dialog heard. When we see visuals, the camera stays out of facial range, as though we should not see the identity of these people because some their behavior regarding a child is so shocking. What we finally view is a little boy who's simply quiet or cowed into submission by a mother accusing him of being a full-out monster.

As with all French films about the law, crime and social services, the job of the "judge" will seem very different from what we have here in the USA. In that initial scene, as identity become clear, we see that the judge is played by French icon Catherine Deneuve, above, who understands her role here as someone who is both the law-giver and final decision-maker but who also acts as a kind of heavy-duty social worker, trying to help her charge into responsible adulthood.

This has long struck me as an interesting combination, one that might be healthily used here in the America, too. In any case, the next time we see the child, Malony -- played with flaring anger, sadness, dark humor and great neediness by newcomer (and César award-winner for this role), Rod Paradot  -- so prone to explosion and irresponsibility seems Malony that we, like many of the others around him, are often ready to give up.

Ms Deneuve's judge does not, nor do a few of her helpers, including another César-winner for his role, Benoît Magimel (above). Against these two are set Paradot's mom, a long-time loser who has never taken the least responsibility for her own life or actions (played with proper ferocity by Sara Forestier, below). Of course the child wants his mother, rather than a foster home, so back and forth we (and the film) swing, as Malony goes from home to a kind of low-key reform school, to home again, prison, and so forth.

The journey is alternately hopeful and grueling, but it is never boring or unbelievable. What we finally achieve is an understanding of how incredibly difficult it is to nurture a child grow into an autonomous man without help from his immediate family. No matter how much the state may try -- and the workers we see here really do -- to call their job an uphill battle is putting it mildly.

While the ending is what one might call feel-good, Ms Bercot is too smart for merely that. We've seen so much slippage along the way that we know there will probably be more to come. And because the film takes in our current and very dismal economic times, this just adds to the problematic nature of the whole experience. Still, as they say: You gotta have hope.

From Cohen Media Group, in French with English subtitles, and running 119 minutes, Standing Tall opens this Friday in New York City at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema and in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Royal. For other currently scheduled playdates, simply click here.

On DVD & Streaming: Déborah François in Emmanuelle Bercot's STUDENT SERVICES

Money talks in the new French film STUDENT SERVICES.(Mes chères études). In fact, it takes on a life of its own, as a struggling college student begins turning tricks and bringing in anywhere from 140 to 250 euros -- at today's rate, around 200 to 350 U.S. dollars -- per pop. After her first encounter, which she detests, her john presents her with an envelope full of money. She quickly counts it and you can see the surprise and wonder subtly play across her face. Any doubts as to why this is the world's oldest profession immediately dispel. For a reasonably attractive young girl desperate for dough to continue her education, why not?

The reasons why not (as well as the reasons why) are brought to intelligent and believable life in this movie -- based on an evidently-famous French memoir by a college-age hooker, adapted by writer/director Emmanuelle Bercot (shown at right), and made for French television! (Any lingering doubts about the vast difference between what is considered adult TV fare here and in Europe should now be put to rest.) Ms Bercot -- who earlier gave us the terrific rock-star-and-her-obsessed-fan film Backstage -- sees to it that we, just as does her heroine Laura, understand exactly what that money earned is going to buy. After her first encounter, Laura (below) joins some friends at a local bar, and through her eyes, suddenly every drink, every cup of coffee has a price-tag attached.

This little nod to the monetary system is done occasionally throughout the movie, bringing us back again and again to barter and trade, rather than sex and sin. Once, as Laura grinds against her john, the money meter counts off per second, and this time we see the "value" of what Laura puts out, rather than what she buys in exchange for that.

The movie also makes clear the very real need of this girl to make decent money fast, rather than some minimum-wage job, in order to leave time for her studies -- which she pursues with a passion generally left out of the sex. Her first boyfriend/flat-mate (played by Benjamin Siksou, above) seems more interested in her as a cash cow than as a love (or even sex) object.

 
Her next man, nicely played by Mathieu Demy (above), tries hard to get around her profession -- using it to turn himself on, as a means to prove he's not jealous, even living off her for a time. But it's finally too much for  this relatively decent-but-problemed fellow.

Among the several johns Laura collects, the most interesting and nuanced is her first, played by Alain Cauchi (above) with a wonderful combination care and scare.  Ms Bercot and the superb actress who plays Laura -- Déborah François -- see to it that we are always kept off-balance by each assignation, wondering where it may go and if Laura will be harmed or cheated of her pay.  The film certainly does not stint on sex scenes or nudity, yet it is absolutely not prurient. We are always made aware of how Laura feels in any situation, and so for mature viewers this will register much more strongly than the male need for satisfaction. (Sorry, porno-freaks, you'd best look elsewhere.)

Ms François -- glammed-up for a PR shot, at left, and so effortlessly fine in everything from her debut in the Dardennes' The Child to The Page Turner, Unmade Beds and the crack comedy, as-yet-unreleased theatrically in the USA, Fais-moi plaisir! -- shows yet another side of her versatility here, and she's as good as she's ever been, which is saying something. She imbues Laura with such quiet, stern, hopeful life (watch her face, in language class, as she recites beautifully in Spanish, as her professor looks on) that she turns this very good movie into a memorable one.

Formerly shown on VOD as part of the IFC Midnight selections, Student Services is now available on DVD and via streaming from Netflix. The latter is how TrustMovies watched it, and the quality -- enabled by Time-Warner Cable's new "pay us more and we'll see to it that you can stream movies properly" enhancement, was first-rate. I'll have more to say later about this new "deal" whereby cable companies get to charge us even more for giving us what they ought to provide already.

All photos are from the film itself, expect for that 

of Ms François, above, which is by Steve Granitz, 

 courtesy of WireImage.com