Young & Beautiful Information

Young & Beautiful () is a 2013 independent French drama film directed by François Ozon and produced by Eric and Nicolas Altmayer. The film stars Marine Vacth in the leading role of Isabelle, a teenage prostitute, and features supporting performances by Charlotte Rampling, Géraldine Pailhas, and Frédéric Pierrot. The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, and received praise from the film critics. It is scheduled to be shown at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.

Plot

Young & Beautiful tells the story of Isabelle, a seventeen year old adolescent, who is beginning to explore her sexuality. The film takes place over the course of a year and is divided into four segments, each separated by a song by Françoise Hardy. The arc of the film covers Isabelle's journey of losing her virginity and choosing a life of prostitution.

Cast

• Marine Vacth as Isabelle
• Charlotte Rampling
• Frédéric Pierrot as Patrick, Isabelle's stepfather
• Géraldine Pailhas as Sylvie, Isabelle's mother
• Nathalie Richard
• Akéla Sari as Mouna
• Lucas Prisor as Felix, a German tourist
• Fantin Ravat as Victor, Isabelle's brother

Reception

Upon its premiere at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, Young & Beautiful received critical acclaim. David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter praised Vacth's leading role and predicted that the film would "land her major exposure on the casting radar". While drawing comparisions to Ozon's 2012 film In the House Rooney wrote, "[U]nlike that playful Hitchcockian quasi-thriller, Young & Beautiful is both more carnal and more sober, suggesting the danger and fragility inherent in the central character's experimentation while keeping the dramatic intensity subdued." Leslie Felperin of Variety noted that the film was "a nuanced, emotionally temperate study of a precocious youth" and added that "its elegant execution will win warm regard [and the] subject matter should lure audiences at arthouses worldwide."

Derek Malcom of London Evening Standard wrote that Ozon was successful in "directing the slim and striking Vacth through a series of sex scenes, and also showing how the girl doesn't really know what she is doing even when pretty experienced in the art of seduction." While being appreciative of the film as a whole, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian noted that the film was a "luxurious fantasy of a young girl's flowering: a very French and very male fantasy, like the pilot episode of the world's classiest soap opera."