L'Étudiante
L'Étudiante (English title: The Student) is a 1988 French romantic comedy directed by Claude Pinoteau, starring Sophie Marceau as Valentine, a literature student preparing the agrégation, and Vincent Lindon as Édouard, a night-time musician she falls in love with.1 It was released in France on 5 October 1988 and is often described as a spiritual successor to Pinoteau's La Boum (1980) and La Boum 2 (1982), which had also starred Marceau.1 • 2
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writers | Claude Pinoteau; screenplay by Pinoteau and Danièle Thompson3 |
| Release | 5 October 1988 (France); distributed by Gaumont1 |
| Runtime | 104 minutes; listed as 1h43 by AlloCiné and 1h44 by IMDb1 • 4 |
| Main cast | Sophie Marceau (Valentine Ezquerra), Vincent Lindon (Ned/Édouard), Élisabeth Vitali (Céline), Jean-Claude Leguay (Charly)3 |
| Production | France–Italy co-production: Gaumont, TF1 Films Production, and Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinematografica5 • 4 |
| Music | Vladimir Cosma; the song "You Call It Love" (music by Cosma, lyrics by Jeff Jordan) performed by Karoline Krüger2 |
| Reception | AlloCiné spectator rating 2.6/5 (about 1,747 notes); IMDb 5.8/10 (about 2.7k votes)1 • 4 |
Spoilers
Plot
Valentine Ezquerra is preparing the agrégation de lettres classiques, the competitive examination that caps five years of literary studies, while teaching French on the side in a boîte à bac, a cram school for the baccalauréat.6 • 7 Her days are strictly scheduled around revision, and she has no time for love.6 During a stay at a winter sports resort she meets Édouard, a pianist and composer who lives for music at night and dreams of writing film scores.8 • 9
The two fall in love despite opposite temperaments and incompatible schedules, and Édouard moves into Valentine's apartment, where a disillusioned professor, fellow students, a helpful nurse, and Céline, another agrégation candidate, orbit around her.8 The relationship strains under the pressure of the approaching examination, and the couple separates.1 On the day of the agrégation, Valentine, her heart broken, delivers her oral presentation on Molière's Le Misanthrope in tears and, under cover of the lecture, addresses a declaration of love to Édouard, who has come to the amphitheater to win her back.1 • 10
Production
The screenplay was written by Claude Pinoteau with Danièle Thompson, who also wrote the dialogue.3 • 10 The technical crew included Yves Rodallec as director of photography, Marie-Josèphe Yoyotte as editor, Jacques Dugied for set design, and Catherine Leterrier for costumes.10 The score was composed by Vladimir Cosma.10
Filming at Méribel. Part of the shoot took place at the Méribel ski resort; a France 3 Grenoble report broadcast on 9 April 1988 showed the filming there and included interviews with Pinoteau about the story and with Marceau about her role.11 This is where Valentine and Édouard meet in the film's story.9
The film was produced as a French–Italian co-production involving Gaumont, TF1 Films Production, and the Cecchi Gori Group's Tiger Cinematografica.5 • 4 Alain Poiré is credited as producer.12
Relationship to La Boum
Because it reunited Pinoteau with Sophie Marceau, L'Étudiante is frequently described as a quasi-sequel or spiritual successor to La Boum (1980) and La Boum 2 (1982), the films that made Marceau famous as the teenager Vic.2 • 1 The heroine's name, Valentine, echoes Vic, and some viewers have called the film "La Boum 3".1
Pinoteau and Thompson, however, maintained that L'Étudiante was never meant to be "La Boum 3": the screenplay was initially written for Isabelle Adjani, an actress traditionally seen as more bookish than Marceau.13 Critics were divided on the comparison; one French television guide described the film as a kind of targeted-product "Boum III", while AlloCiné's audience score of 2.6 out of 5 sits well below the affection the earlier films enjoy.8 • 1
Release and home media
Gaumont distributed the film in French cinemas from 5 October 1988.1 It was later released on DVD on 1 March 2008 and on Blu-ray on 26 February 2020, with VOD availability from 1 January 2008.1 A French DVD edition also contains a presentation by Danièle Thompson, an audio commentary by Pinoteau, an interview with Vincent Lindon, and a report on the Méribel shoot.5 The film remains available for rental or purchase on French streaming services including Amazon Video, Canal VOD, TF1+, Pathé Home, LaCinetek, and Apple TV Store.7
International titles
The film circulated internationally under titles including The Student (English), La estudiante (Spanish), Die Studentin (German), Studentka, and Il tempo delle mele 3 (Italian), the last tying it to the Italian release titles of the La Boum films.14
References
- L'Etudiante – Film 1988 – AlloCiné
- L'étudiante (1988) - IMDb
- L'étudiante – TF1 Pro
- L'étudiante (1988) – IMDb
- Notice bibliographique L'étudiante – Bibliothèque nationale de France
- L'Étudiante – Pathé Home
- L'Étudiante – JustWatch
- L'étudiante – TV Programme
- L'Étudiante – SensCritique
- L'Etudiante – Cinéma Français
- Cinéma : tournage de "L'étudiante" de Claude Pinoteau – INA
- L'étudiante en streaming & replay – Molotov TV
- Delord (2021), article on Claude Pinoteau and L'Étudiante
- L'Étudiante (1988) Bande Annonce VF – YouTube
Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1980s › Comedy-dramas of the 1980s
Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026
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