Giovane e bella

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.

This film is incredibly slow and apathetic, but that's the beauty of it. Isabelle (Marine Vacth), a girl with a stable family who finds herself in a stable environment, is a strange creature. From what I've noticed, she only had a real connection with two people: her little brother and Alice (Charlotte Rampling). She decides to become a prostitute, even though she didn't need the money and could've had sex with any young guy, and her reasons to start doing such a thing aren't clear. François Ozon directed a film with a lot of million dollar questions.

From my personal perspective, she did it for the taste and the thrill provided by the sense of being independent, of doing something dangerous and morally wrong. Even though she felt somewhat disgusted and guilty for having sex with strange men, she kept doing it to, somehow, prove herself that she didn't need anyone's approval to do what she wanted to do - in this case, a dangerous and morally wrong thing. She probably didn't plan to tell anyone, but her family found out in a bad way. I see her as a rebel hearted girl who feels trapped in a cage (in her case, her mother, society, morality, a nice and stable life) and who's holding back her feelings because, if she let them out, they might be too overwhelming - that's why she so apathetic all the time. Or maybe she just couldn't care less about anyone because life is boring and we're gonna die.

I enjoyed the film. I enjoyed the photography, the scenarios, the actors, the language, etc. It's not an exciting production, though. It's the perfect movie to watch on a rainy Sunday, when there's nothing else to do.

A girl goes to the beach with her parents and younger brother. She loses her virginity to a boy she meets there. The experience is rather unsatisfying, so for some reason she becomes a high-class prostitute for middle-aged and elderly men.

It is a long-time convention of French cinema for young girls (often underage girls) to become sexually involved with older men. It might be a nod to the changing times that in films like this and "Student Services" and "Elles", they're now apparently getting paid for it at least. But while those other two French films (and the similar Eastern European film "A Call Girl") are about university students who resort to prostitution to pay for their studies, this is a younger girl who still lives with her parents, and her motives for selling her body are pretty opaque to say the least. Still, this film is perhaps less hypocritical than the others because while ALL these films contain more sex/nudity than is really necessary, this at least is a strange but singular story of one character and is not positing itself as a "problem" movie about how terrible it is that unbelievably sexy young girls are doing things like this--while, of course, SHOWING them doing things like this as much as possible.

This film is no better or worse than the aforementioned ones, but it is somewhat of disappointment coming as it does from auteur Francois Ozon. Ozon is perhaps most famous for "Swimming Pool", but he has actually made any number of interesting films like "Sitcom", "See the Sea", "Criminal Lovers", and even the murder-mystery musical "8 Women". Compared to those, this film is just horribly conventional. The actress Marine Vacth, a gorgeous former model, is obviously about five years older than her character, which is probably a good thing because even when she's not having graphic sex with the elderly, she's being spied on sunbathing topless, showering, or masturbating by the male members of her own family! Her performance is adequate, but really pales compared to the performance by Adele Exarchopolous in "La Vie d'Adele" (which this film competed against at Cannes last year). But then it's hard to give a believable performance when you aren't given a believable character.

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.

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.