Fifth about The Seventh

Young & Beautiful (Jeune & Jolie)

Young & Beautiful: François Ozon’s drama, much like the services provided by its young protagonist, carry an excessive degree of coldness and emotional distance to the proceedings. The film is refreshingly non-judgmental, at least, but most everything in it is too transactional. Marine Vacth is, as the title suggests, young and beautiful, but by force of her character’s journey, gives a cold performance as the aloof protagonist for most of the runtime; that’s not to say she doesn’t have a few more emotional scenes sprinkled here and there. Géraldine Pailhas, as her mother, gives a nice and emotionally layered performance. Charlotte Rampling has a crucial scene and makes the best of it. Generally, the film has a simple and effective look; Ozon and cinematographer Pascal Marti make a good, but thematically obvious, use of mirrors throughout.

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