Young and Beautiful

Francois Ozon’s main character Isabelle is a cold, mysterious teen, providing the film mostly ambiguity.

This year’s “Nymphomaniac” tackled a seriously controversial subject, sex and lots of it, with style and perverse humor in the way only Lars von Trier can. So if you can’t make that movie full of cinematic flourish, you might consider making one much more, for lack of a better term, stripped down.

Francois Ozon’s “Young & Beautiful” removes the religious symbolism and outrageous behavior from von Trier’s film to make something much more real, but he’s also sapped it of its sexier qualities. It’s “Nymphomaniac” without any of the humor, style or strong sense of ideas. Continue reading “Young and Beautiful”