‘Jeune et Jolie‘ (the English distribution title is ‘Young & Beautiful‘), François Ozon‘s 2013 film reminded me of Bunuel’s ‘Belle de Jour’. Both films have fascinating women as heroines. These practice the oldest profession in the world, but do not make it out of material or social pressure. In fact, in both films, the reasons that cause heroines to prostitute are not elucidated to the end, and the directors do not try to manipulate their spectators towards any explanation, let alone a moral judgment. On the contrary, the deciphering of motivations is left largely on the spectators behalf, and that is why different people may appreciate or judge the characters differently. Basically it can be said that they may see different movies.
But the comparisons also have their limitations. In ‘Jeune et Jolie‘ Isabelle, the lead character, is only 17 years old. A few months after a first sexual experience that happened during the summer vacation, in which it seems that she engaged more out of curiosity, we will find her leading to a double life: high school student and prostitute in hotels in Paris. She earns beautifully, but money is not the reason she does it, as she comes from a wealthy family. She doest not seem to have too much pleasure either from the random encounters with unknown men. The only one she attaches to a bit attached is a much older man, maybe even older than the father her mother has left in her first years of life. When he dies during an encounter, she feels guilty and abandons these activities. In a short time the police come in her footsteps, without blaming her – in fact she is a victim both legally (being a minor) and of course morally. A victim who chooses her fate, for reasons that spectators are left to guess.
‘Jeune et Jolie‘ is beautifully structured and designed in style, even if it is not among François Ozon‘s best films. The narrative is divided into four chapters, after the seasons of the year, accompanied by Francoise Hardy’s songs. Marine Vacth is young and beautiful, as the title says and very well cast for the main role. I also liked the interpretations of the parents’ roles (Géraldine Pailhas and Frédéric Pierrot) as well as that of Fantin Ravat, a young talent who, unfortunately, seems to have abandoned an actor’s career, who plays the role of the younger brother of Isabelle, at the beginning of adolescence. Any opportunity to see Charlotte Rampling again is welcome. She appears in a final scene, kind of absolving Isabelle of the feelings of guilt, the only scene in which we find a possible key to her personality. We can ask ourselves what will happen when the cycle of seasons will start again. In fact, the heroine’s coming to age was accelerated and sentimentally, during the year the story of the film is happening, she lived for a whole lifetime. That if feelings existed in her soul. Her falling in prostitution happened at the end of a seemingly normative adolescence. The family atmosphere seems to have played a role in her evolution – the mother had left her first husband (Isabelle’s father) and probably cheats on the second. But that doesn’t seem enough. What shocks in this character is her complete lack of feelings. For her, at no time, sex is associated with something that comes close to love. We find in Isabelle memories of adolescence crises but nothing about the feelings that made 17 one of the most beautiful ages in life. François Ozon does not give us any clue and does not direct us to any moral judgment. The risks of the ‘profession’ are not mentioned at any time. If this is the norm, the conclusion is sad. At least from the chair I saw this movie.