Review of Young & Beautiful (2013) by Thomas W — 05 Sep 2014

I am not exactly sure what to make of French director François Ozon's latest film Young & Beautiful; but it has kept me thinking about it after seeing it. Ozon's (Swimming Pool, 8 Femmes) newest feature is about the "young and beautiful" Isabelle (23- year-old model Marine Vacth), a 17-year-old French beauty who has just discovered sex.

She doesn't appear to particularly like it and treats it rather aloofly but she becomes a (secret) high-priced escort in Paris anyway to earn extra money ... which she also appears to have no use for as she is taken care of and has everything she needs by her well-paid mother.

Isabelle is a cipher and she is difficult to read (she's underage and her actions are criminal) ... is she merely "young and beautiful" and not overly wise? Do all of the older men she frequents merely want her because she is "young and beautiful"? Is the film's title skewering the world's fixation on things "young and beautiful" to make a buck? It is all question marks but I think the uncertainty is part of what made the film fascinating because I wanted to figure out what was driving her .

.. but still do not. Like Isabelle, the film is an enigma. Perhaps the film is about a woman learning to be in control (it is an Ozon film) but how is Isabelle learning anything? We cannot get into her head or get past the actress's "young & beautiful" façade she's giving us.

And ... perhaps that is it ... it is a cinematic conundrum.