In François Ozon’s latest drama bourgeois hypocrisy sends smart, beautiful Parisian Isabelle (Marine Vacth) on a numbed voyage of sexual discovery. As we slowly discover, her mum is almost certainly cheating on her stepfather, while her stepfather is open to flirtation and her dad is benignly neglectful (he’s just had a baby and is living abroad). Trust is in short supply, so Isabelle drifts into high-class prostitution, where at least the rules of engagement are clear.
Ozon rips off movies from the past (there are similarities with Bonjour Tristesse and Belle de Jour), but where those films are effervescent and daring, this one feels contrived and conservative.
Isabelle loves the sex — as seen through her eyes, prostitution is natural and (often) beautiful. She becomes especially fond of one paternalistic old chap whose fragrant, melancholic wife (Charlotte Rampling) pops up at the end to say that him “seeing other women” suited her fine. Ozon’s unappetising message to middle-aged men seems to be: paying for intercourse can actually improve your marriage.
Vacth, who used to be a model, has been hailed as a new talent but she’s not required to do any acting. Her pretty face and lithe (borderline anorexic) body are the only things about her that make an impression. There are endless shots of her breasts.
She says the atmosphere on set was “joyful and pleasant... I felt supported, carried, protected”. It’s nice she didn’t feel exploited, but Jeune et Jolie is still an elegant peepshow. I think she’s been had.
