Sorry, this movie sucks

Simply Perfect

Powerful

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

I liked it. I love French film, and it was on Netflix. I have a special pity for women forced into prostitution by whatever circumstance. It really makes you think about the reality of the life of a call girl, whom one calls for pleasure. If you treat her well, respecting her, like the old man did, fine. But think about how many men treat her like crap. And that's what this film does. The actress is naturally beautiful. The relationship with her brother adds a good element to it that might otherwise cause it to be stagnant. The problem is not that this movie lacks a bunch of dialogue or action. That's if you want Hollywood nonsense. This is a well made film. I just don't find it GREAT. But I might watch it again. But I am not dying to.

Isabelle is a 16 year-old French girl. She is indeed beautiful, like a runway model, and just as expressionless throughout the entire movie. We meet her during a family summer vacation in the coast of France. During this vacation she loses her virginity to a German tourist. She has no feelings for him and no feelings or emotions about this event. Her little brother acts like a confidant and girlfriend of sorts since she doesn't seem to have any real friends, male nor female. At some point she celebrates her 17th birthday.Summer vacation ends and we meet are again sometime in the Fall, now a full-blown prostitute! No explanation or reasons are given. She maintains appearances for the family, she goes to school, claims to do homework with friends but spends her afternoons at hotels seeing mostly old men with various sexual appetites. One of them tells her "whore for a day, whore for life." She hides all her money, and it must be a lot, and her fancy clothes and somehow the family is clueless. One night she goes with her mom and stepdad to the opera. There she runs into one of her clients who pretends not to see her. She also catches her mom getting touchy with a family friend, with whose family they went on vacation during summer. From talking with a friend at school we gather that the reason she went into prostitution is entirely for the money so she can buy fancy stuff. Whether she actually buys anything is not clear.It takes the movie 40 minutes to decide whether it wants to tell a story or whether it's just going to be a window into someone's lame life. One day one of the old geezers croaks in the middle of sex. Isabelle escapes the hotel without telling anyone. Next, the police visit her mom at work and reveal Isabelle's secret life to her. They go trough her stuff, her computer where they find her prostitute profile, her money, work clothes, etc. The mom flips out. No more computers, no more escapades, no more social life. That and therapy. Isabelle in her aloofness pretends this has nothing to do with her. She even manipulatively flirts with her stepfather and therapist. But during interrogation we learn how she got into prostitution to begin with. One day leaving school she was approached by a guy who offered her money. Presumably she accepted. That, and she likes meeting new people. We learn that her father sends her money during birthdays and Christmas but is otherwise completely absent in her life.By now it's Winter and the mom allows Isabelle to accompany a friend to a party. There she meets a guy, they make out and end up being a couple. Later she tells him it's over. While babysitting she connects online with her work SIM card and discovers a lot of messages. Then she decides to meet someone in a hotel. It's the wife of the deceased client.It takes a while for Young & Beautiful to get going. It did win me over eventually, not so much because of the uninteresting character of Isabelle or the completely uncharismatic Marine Vacth but more because of the rest of the cast and characters that do a good job of portraying normal family life. For a French movie, the story is quite superficial. Despite the therapy, it doesn't go deeper into the reasons for her career choice. It's not really money because she gets plenty from her family. By all accounts her family loves her and cares for her. There is an unrealistic emptiness in her life that isn't explained either. In that regard it reminded me of the even more empty "Blue is the Warmest Color." She has no friends, she doesn't party or fool around with friends. In the entire movie she never laughs or giggles. She smiles authentically once, when her friend takes her out to dance during the party. Again, we have to remember she's supposed to be an attractive 17 year old high school student. I don't know what the fascination is that the French have with prostitution, but the Summer episode leads you to believe this could be a good coming-of-age story. Instead the prostitution angle comes out of nowhere, and doesn't go anywhere either. The movie ends on a blank note that captures pretty much the entire movie. I think reasons and explanations could have been given that would have made this movie more meaningful, but it only barely hints at these. As long as you don't expect some enriching and profound movie, Young & Beautiful is enjoyable nonetheless.

The story goes nowhere and ends fizzling out. In the movie, juvenile prostitution is presented as an innocent passage in the life of young adolescent girls. Some sort of victimless game. The plot is very weak and the characters lack consistency. They are vague and their role is not clear.Spoiler ***Everything revolve about insane sex and heavy lies***. The scenario is not credible nor convincing. At times, the movie seems a documentary of some sort. With this production, it is obvious that François Ozon pleased himself filming young and pretty Marine Vacth from every conceivable angles. Those who don't share the enthusiasm of François Ozon for the sex-appeal of Marine will not find any interest here.

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.