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YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL Send This Review to a Friend
A favorite of mine in the recent Rendez-Vous with French Cinema series was François Ozon’s “Young and Beautiful,” now in commercial release. It stars attractive Marine Vacth, as Isabelle, a 17-year-old student who becomes fascinated with the opportunities for prostitution over the internet, and finds that she can make considerable money selling her body.
Isabelle gets to enjoy it, while her mother and stepfather have no clue as to what she is doing. The work gives her a sense of empowerment over the men who hire her in this new world of self-discovery.
The situation falls apart when a kind, elderly man she has been seeing dies in bed in the hotel room they have shared. His phone records lead to her and her secret becomes known to her flabbergasted parents.
New complication arise, but Isabelle follows a request for what leads to a strange encounter in the fatal hotel room with the deceased’s widow, played by Charlotte Rampling. The set-up seems rather far-fetched but Rampling is always such a strong presence that she makes the scene work.
Vacth is interesting to watch, and her performance conveys a restlessness that makes one think about growing up these days in a world where temptations are everywhere. The clueless parental situation emphasizes how disconnects can occur.
Ozon has come up with another involving and original film. A Sundance Selects release. Reviewed April 25, 2014
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