The trite high-school transfer story gets an infusion of raw energy and a genuine flavour
Points: 07
“When I was young, I was a Benoît, too — a little shy. I was the new kid in the classroom and I always had a hard time fitting in. It’s something painful for a lot of people, and everybody was ‘the newbie’ sometime in their life,” said French actor-turned-filmmaker Rudi Rosenberg about his debut film Le nouveau (“The New Kid”), a lightweight yet very enjoyable tale about discrimination, tolerance and acceptance that won the New Directors prize at San Sebastián as well as the Audience Award for Best International Feature at the BAFICI.
The story is pretty well-known: a coy teenager comes as a transfer in a new school, where he faces the tricky task of making friends, standing up against the bullies, becoming one of the cool guys, and, if possible, having a pretty girl fall for him too. Basically what every high-school boy wants given those circumstances.
Yet despite so well-trod a premise, Rosenberg is sensitive enough to infuse it with a good deal of raw energy and emotional truth as he has his so-called geeks and freaks find out that being who they really are is hip and ultimately outdoes being who others expect them to be. Such revelations won’t come easily, as the road to self-approval is often arid and not devoid of a good deal of suffering, but in the very end it’s a path that pays off in a down-to-earth, trustworthy manner. And it’s for keeps.
Benoît (Rephael Ghrenassia) is a shy 13-year-old from Le Havre who moves to a Parisian junior high-school where the popular kids are cute, rich, and well-dressed — that’s no surprise. Like everywhere else, some of them relentlessly bully the underdogs, namely the plain weirdo Joshua (Joshua Raccah), the brainiac Constantin (Guillaume Cloud Roussel) and the handicapped, self-confident Aglaee (Geraldine Martineau). There is also Swedish Johanna (Johanna Lindstedt), a young beauty for whom fitting in won’t be much of a problem. Needless to say, Benoît is infatuated with her — which is no good news, to be honest.
Though Rosenberg never goes for harrowing realism and its multiple complexities, you could still say that his portrayal still is authentic and familiar enough, without ever being manipulative, as to elicit sincere empathy from viewers at large — even those who were bullies as kids, I dare say. This is partly due to a gifted cast of emerging young actors who know what ensemble acting is all about, to a catching sense of humour that makes children’s cruelty more digestible. Also, a transparent mise-en-scène and clean editing that are never distractive and instead allow the drama to breathe at ease.
Some situations may be too trite and obvious when trying to convey a message — i.e. Benoît organizes a big party, but only three students turn up, so losers are always shunned — but for the most part they nevertheless work out, mainly because they rely on simplicity and common sense. And though the ending might feel too optimistic at first glance, then think it’s only fair that these uncool kids get what they strive for, meaning to feel good about themselves, have friends with whom to enjoy life, and not care about fitting in. Granted, in real life it takes much longer than a term to pull off such a feat — and many people never get even close — but thanks to the magic of the movies you get the picture anyway. And that’s what really matters.
Production notes
Le nouveau (France, 2015) Written and directed by Rudi Rosenberg. With Rephael Ghrenassia, Joshua Raccah, Geraldine Martineau, Guillaume Cloud Roussel, Max Boubil. Cinematography: Nicolas Loir. Editing: Julie Lena. Running time: 81 minutes.
