Grand bonheur (1993)
Directed by Hervé Le Roux

Film Review

This charming comedy-drama from director Hervé Le Roux accurately conveys the mood and aspirations of a group of young students whose cosy world of lectures and casual relationships is about to be replaced by the real world of work and family commitment.  Closely observed, the film's authenticity is reinforced by the minimalist style of the mise-en-scène and the naturalistic performances from a sympathetic cast.  The downbeat comedy periodically gives way to hilarious farce in the sequences depicting rehearsals for a god-awful end-of-term revue.  Although loosely structured and a little over-long, this is overall an engaging and accessible piece of cinéma vérité.

Film Synopsis

In Paris one bright August, a group of students meet up to spend their last summer together before taking their final year exams. They are for the most part film students who are looking forward to their future career with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.  Some of them are presently engaged on staging a somewhat dated operetta, others are happy to just drift about the bars of the capital or drop in on that holiest of holies, the cinémathèque.  Naturally, being such a diverse brunch, conflicts are bound to arise, but even this is good preparation for the life that awaits them after they graduate.  There's far more to a student's education than sitting in lecture halls and swotting for exams...