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“Volatile male adolescence and adult irresponsibility react together in a claustrophobic hothouse environment.” - Screen International
Aspiring tennis player Jonas is failing miserably at high school; he receives no support from his divorced parents, who are largely absent, but finds himself taken under the wings of a trio of thirty-somethings. Led by the affable Pierre, the group take charge, coaching Jonas for his end-of-year exam. But when Jonas has relationship troubles with his girlfriend, the ad-hoc private lessons become increasingly perverse, as Jonas's tutors take to the task of his sexual education with gusto. As the ‘game' of Jonas's education becomes increasingly explicit, Pierre's sexual machinations become ever more manipulative. Frank, unapologetic and peppered with humour, Private Lessons is both titillating and unsettling as a depiction of sexual manipulation. --- D Joachim Lafosse P Jacques Henri-Bronckart S Joachim Lafosse, Francois Pirot WS Haut & Court L French w/English subtitles TD 35mm/2008/105mins