JOHANNESBURG – This hard-hitting, French-language drama (with English sub-titles) is a provocative and disturbing exploration of a teenager turning to prostitution as part of her adolescent crisis.
The story focuses on a beautiful 17-year-old girl, Isabelle (Marine Vacth), who lives with her younger brother, (Fantin Ravat), her mother (Geraldine Pailhas) and stepfather (Frederic Pierrot). The family is well-off and she wants for nothing.
However, like many teenagers, Isabelle has secrets that she keeps hidden from her family. While other teens are experimenting with cigarettes and drugs as they try to unlock how they fit into the world, Isabelle turns to prostitution.
Through many twists, the story within Young and Beautiful is divided into four seasons – starting in summer at the family’s holiday villa in the South of France, then moving to Paris as Isabelle gradually becomes more entrenched in her dangerous and shrouded new life. Each season is characterised by an iconic Françoise Hardy song – The Love of a Boy, Why Even Try? First Encounter and I am Me.
Isabelle’s first encounter is a desultory relationship with Felix (Lucas Prisor), a hunky German tourist. He is neither her emotional nor her intellectual equal, and she gives up her virginity to him, only to cast him aside without a care days later. In the autumn, Isabelle, back in Paris, sets up a website to accept appointments from ‘clients’ she meets for sex in chic hotel rooms.
She is a cool professional. But this does not mean Isabelle is immune to the effects of the sexual whims of, and occasional rough treatment from, men. It is only with one regular client that she allows herself to experience any pleasure. That is, until the unthinkable happens and she is forced to deal with the consequences of her decisions.
Presented over the course of four seasons, Ozon’s film provides an unprejudiced glimpse into the adolescent female psyche. While he subtly hints at an economic subtext, Ozon captures perfectly the sense of fearlessly searching for one’s unique identity and place in the world.
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