Private Lessons [Élève Libre] *** (2008) – Classic Movie Review 13,395

The 2008 Belgian drama film Private Lessons [Élève Libre] stars Jonas Bloquet as a troubled teenager who fails his exams but thinks he can have a pro tennis career. He desperately needs some help. 

Co-writer/ director Joachim Lafosse’s 2008 Belgian drama film Private Lessons [Élève Libre] stars Jonas Bloquet, Jonathan Zaccaï, Yannick Renier, Claire Bodson, and Pauline Étienne.

Jonas Bloquet stars as 16-year-old Jonas, who fails his annual exams again for the second year running and his school wants to dump him, but he thinks he can devote himself to a career in professional tennis. After failing the national competition, he meets 30-year-old teacher Pierre (Jonathan Zaccaï), who is intrigued by his situation, and offers to help him.

Private Lessons [Élève libre] is a worryingly disturbing, chilly, provocative Belgian film. Jonas’s story never looks as though it is going to go well, but does it, or doesn’t it? The screenplay by Joachim Lafosse and François Pirot is intelligent and thought-provoking, quite challenging, and Joachim Lafosse directs formally and commandingly, with a doomy middle class atmosphere. It plays like an Ingmar Bergman film. Attention is required throughout to the film’s nuances and the clever dialogue.

Jonas Bloquet is tremendous, as he has to be, as the nice, sincere troubled teen, easy to help but also easy to manipulate. Jonas seems easy going, but he’s inwardly quite tough and determined, though that might be thanks to his clever new educator, who may have an agenda of his own.

Jonas has a girlfriend, Delphine (Pauline Étienne), his first love, who seems to mean the world to him, but is willing to dump ruthlessly when it doesn’t go his way sexually. He has a mother and father, who have separated, and don’t seem to be all that bothered about him, not all that bothered at all.

He needs parental figures. He might have picked the wrong ones. But he might not. The film doesn’t make this at all clear or obvious. So it’s quite subtle, and quite frank too. Despite its English language title Private Lessons, it is not a sex film but it is quite explicit. Approach with great caution.

It’s filmed in French.

The original title Élève Libre means Free Student, but does this means the lessons are free, or Jonas is free to make up his own mind about everything?

It premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival on 19 May 2008 in the Directors’ Fortnight section and was released on 21 January 2009.

Jonathan Zaccaï won Best Actor and Pauline Étienne won Most Promising Actress at Belgium’s Magritte Awards.

The cast

The cast are Jonas Bloquet as Jonas, Jonathan Zaccaï as Pierre, Yannick Renier as Didier, Claire Bodson as Nathalie, Pauline Étienne as Delphine, Anne Coesens as Pascale, Johan Leysen as Serge, and Thomas Coumans as Thomas.

Jonas Jean Bloquet

Belgian actor Jonas Jean Bloquet was born on 10 July 1992.

Bloquet started playing tennis as a child, taught by his father. His mother encouraged him to audition for Private Lessons after seeing an ad looking for a teenager who could play tennis. By chance, Bloquet’s father was Joachim Lafosse’s tennis teacher years earlier.

He is known for the thriller Elle (2016), for which he was César Award nominated as Most Promising Actor, and the horror film The Nun (2018) and its sequel The Nun II (2023), playing Frenchie Theriault.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,395

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