Le Plus Bel Âge (1995)

Title: Those Were the Days
Original Title: Le Plus Bel Âge
Release Date: 1995-09-13
Status: Released
Rating: 5.9/10 (from 7 votes)
Language: FR
Genres: Drama
Production Companies: Canal+, La Sept Cinéma
The grueling, emotionally torturous world of French preparatory schools provides the framework for this mystery. The deliberately rigorous courses are designed to prepare students to take the brutal examinations for entry into the elite Grand Ecoles, where a select few will gain the skills and education needed to insure a bright, prosperous future for themselves. The story centers on Delphine, a girl from the lower classes, and the upper class Claude. Both young women aspire to attend the Ecole Normale Superieure on the Rue d'Ulm. Delphine lives in humble public housing with her dull mother and two young brothers while Claude, who considers herself a Communist, lives in luxury with her own servant; she is sexually involved with fellow- student, Axel, who thinks himself a fascist.
Cast

Élodie Bouchez
Delphine

Melvil Poupaud
Axel

Sophie Aubry
Claude

Gaël Morel
Bertrand

Blandine Lenoir
Blandine

Myriam Boyer
Bertrand's mother

Sylvie Testud
Sylvie

Marcel Bozonnet
Khâgne professor

Benjamin Mercer
Pierre

Nils Ohlund
Niels