Terminale (1998)
Directed by Francis Girod

Film Review

Despite its improbable plot and some rather pointless padding, Terminale manages to be an atmospheric noirish thriller-drama which offers a disturbing portrait of adolescent pack mentality. An impulse (such as the desire for revenge) which would be relatively innocuous in an individual it becomes far more destructive when shared by a group of impressionable young adults, particularly those with a greater than average intelligence and therefore perverse ability to justify their actions. Terminale is a late entry in the filmography of director Francis Girod, whose diverse output includes the grisly black comedy Le Trio infernal (1974), the financial satire La Banquière (1980) and historical piece Lacenaire (1990).

Whilst the story is difficult to take seriously, it is well-told and skilfully uses suspense to maintain the spectator's interest.  Unfortunately, the film's faults are all too apparent and this mars the pleasure of watching it.  Thanks in part to its protracted (and pretty irrelevant) opening sequences, each of the film's main protagonists are presented in a bad light from the start (the students are manipulative, too-sure-of-themselves brats, the teacher an intolerant bully) and it is hard to sympathise with either side in the ensuing psychological conflict. Basically, you just don't care because both the students and their teacher are equally unlikeable, and there is no discernible moral superiority in either camp. In the lead role, Bruno Wolkowitch is badly let down by the script - he would have a much greater impact in films such as Jacques Bral's Mauvais garçon (1993) before becoming a household name in France through his role as Vincent Fournier in the long-running French television series P.J. (1997-2009).

The most frustrating thing about the film, however, is its cop-out ending which brings the curtain down with a self-satisfied flourish, without managing to say anything particularly intelligent or profound.  This is one of those films which is frustrating not because it is badly made, but rather because it leaves the impression that it thinks it is much cleverer than it really is.

Film Synopsis

In their final year at a French high school, a group of friends are incensed and traumatised when a fellow student, Caroline, commits suicide during one of their lessons.   They blame her death on their brilliant but arrogant philosopher teacher, Mr Terrien, and decide to conduct their own investigation to prove his guilt.  Having broken into his apartment, they discover that Terrien is writing a revisionist text about the Holocaust - something which will certainly cost him his job.  Yet even with this incriminating evidence in their hands, the school friends are not satisfied.  They agree that they should take the law into their own hands and execute Terrien themselves...