Joven y bonita

This film tells the story of a teenage middle class girl who explores her sexuality by becoming a prostitute.

"Young and Beautiful" shows a lot of skin, but little of the mind. I mean this in a good way though, because it keeps Isabelle's life choices mysterious. When it does show Isabelle's mind (in the scene where she talks to the psychologist), she opens up and shows her true emotions that have been suppressed. Isabelle's short confession is enough to provoke much thought, and makes the film more sophisticated. It's just like the scene towards the end, when she switches on her phone, her brief facial expression is already telling us a lot.

The plot is not as tight or thrilling as Ozon's previous film "In the House", but it is still enjoyable as it lingers my mind after watching it.

Jeune & Jolie (also known as Young & Beautiful) is the story of a 17-year old girl named Isabelle who after losing her virginity, the experience of which leaves her cold, starts living a double life as a call girl under the alias Lea, which in her opinion is a win-win situation as it allows her to explore her sexuality while being paid for it. But when one of her clients dies due to heart attack during an encounter, she leaves & quits prostitution but is later tracked down by the police who reveals Isabelle's double life to her parents.

I don't really know what to make of this film. The filmmaker's intention is not as clear as it should be nor clear is the motives of its characters plus the subplots are very fragmented & scattered all over the place. The characters are rather uninteresting & Isabelle clearly is a confused teenager who's not aware of the consequences of the path she has chosen. Yet, Marine Vacth gives her all to deliver a sensual performance that could've been much rewarding if the character was more fleshed out in the script.

Cinematography, however, exquisitely captures the beautiful location this film is shot at & the quote "once a whore, always a whore" is strongly implied but the drama remains stale as a whole. On an overall scale, Jeune & Jolie is that cinema which had the opportunity to become something truly intriguing & rewarding at the same time but apart from the plethora of sex scenes it offers from start to finish, it lacks everything a cinema needs to stimulate its audience.

The French teenager Isabelle (Marine Vacth) is spending summer holiday with her middle-class family in the south of France and decides to lose her virginity with the German teenager Felix (Lucas Prisor). Then she returns to Paris with her mother Sylvie (Géraldine Pailhas), her stepfather Patrick (Frédéric Pierrot) and her younger brother Victor (Fantin Ravat).

Then Isabelle works as a call girl using the nickname Lea and meeting old men. She feels affection for her client Georges (Johan Leysen) that is married with a daughter. When Georges dies from a heart attack while having sex with Isabelle in a hotel, she flees but the police investigate and identifies her. The detectives in charge of the investigation disclose to Sylvie that is devastated. Isabelle quits prostitution, but once prostitute, forever prostitute.

"Jeune & Jolie" by François Ozon begins as a coming of age version of "Belle de Jour", where the lead character is attracted by money instead of by sexual fantasies. Even the poster recalls the one from Buñuel's masterpiece. Isabelle belongs to a middle-class family and does not have financial needs but despite of that, she is attracted by money. This is clear based on her reaction when her mother takes her money and when she explains to the police detective how she started to prostitute after receiving an offer from a stranger. Further, she is cold and seems to care only to her younger brother and Georges. When she loses her virginity with Felix, it seems to be part of her plan to explore her sexuality to make money. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Jovem e Bela" ("Young and Beautiful")

Young & Beautiful is one of François Ozon's few completely serious movies, without even the gentle humor of In the House. This will appeal more to fans of Time to Leave or Under the Sand than to fans of 8 Women, for example - unless you love every movie he's ever made, as I do.

This is the marvelously well written, directed, photographed and acted story of a beautiful girl named Isabelle, from a prosperous and loving middle-class family, who turns 17 during the course of the movie. She and her younger brother Victor are best friends.

She has a strong sex drive but quickly discovers that she doesn't really enjoy the act itself. Her body insists on doing it, and she's in high demand because of her extraordinary beauty, so she goes online and turns it into a part-time job on weekdays after school. She does it more to channel her frighteningly strong drive into something productive than for the money - which seems to me like a remarkably intelligent and sensible decision for a 17-year-old. No one has any idea that she's doing it, even Victor.

Everything goes well until the police investigation of a sudden but natural death involves her, and the cops tell her mother. Since she's a minor, she's legally a victim, not a criminal, but the proverbial stuff hits the fan anyway.

Besides Ozon's brilliance and skill, which are remarkably consistent across the wide range of genres he experiments with, this movie is extraordinary for three wonderful performances. First is Marine Vacth as Isabelle. It's rare and delightful when a great beauty turns out to be greatly talented as well.

Second is Fantin Ravat as her little brother Victor. Theirs is the strongest, healthiest, most interesting and most gratifying sibling relationship I've ever seen.

Third is Charlotte Rampling as the wife of one of Isabelle's clients. The scene between her and Vacth is like a cinematic jewel, full of beauty and magic. Those two powerful women and Ozon raise an already very good movie into the heavens. Fantastic.

The French have quite a tradition of films about prostitution. Starting of course by 'Belle de Jour', the iconic movie in which Cathérine Deneuve decides to work in a brothel out of boredom. Ten years ago, there was 'Nathalie', with Emannuelle Béart in the role of a high- class call girl who is hired to spy on a man suspected of adultery. And only two years ago, the underrated 'Elles' hit the screens, with Anaïs Demoustier as a young call girl and Juliette Binoche as a journalist writing a story about prostitution by students. These are just three examples, I'm sure there are more.

And now, 'Jeune et Jolie' (Young and Beautiful) is continuing the tradition. It tells the story of Isabelle, a quiet seventeen year old girl, who for unknown reasons starts working as a call girl. The film is divided into four chapters, one for every season. In the summer part, Isabelle loses her virginity to a German hunk during a beach holiday, just days before her seventeenth birthday. The next part is set in the autumn, and already Isabelle is working as a high heeled hooker, routinely visiting paying customers in posh Parisian hotels. The next winter everything goes wrong and her parents learn about her secret life. The last part, set in spring, shows how she is trying to pick up her old life as a student, but it's difficult to erase the past.

The good thing is that director François Ozon doesn't judge Isabelle, nor explains why she does what she does. He only suggests that she is not really happy, she seems remote, ill- tempered and emotionally vulnerable. Isabelle is not very popular or likable. The only one she really seems to connect to on an emotional level, is her younger brother Victor. In a recent interview, actress Marine Vacth suggests that Isabelle just wants to try something exciting. It might as well have been drugs.

Ozon tells the story well. Because of the four seasons concept, the story keeps on developing. He also throws in some nice cinematographic treats, like the small scene of Isabelle and her fellow students commenting in close-up about a poem by Rimbaud. The final scene consists of a surprising twist, involving some superb acting by Charlotte Rampling. Also working very well are the songs by Françoise Hardy on the soundtrack.

Apparently, 'Jeune & Jolie' has been described as 'Belle de Jour 2.0'. That is definitely exaggerated. But nevertheless, it is a fine coming-of-age film.