François Ozon talks about shedding light on the pains of adolescence in his new film Jeune et Jolie
Despite some of Jeune et Jolie's very explicit content – a lot of nudity and sex between the stunning young girl and various much older clients – Ozon was keen that no one felt uncomfortable during the filming. "I don’t work in a sadistic way with the actors," he tells us. "I want to build trust with them and for them to enjoy it. It’s like we are children playing a game – just because it’s violent on screen, it doesn't mean it has to be violent on set."
This is something that shows, relieving the film of what could have been a Last Tango in Paris scale density. Indeed, Ozon was pleased to hear that in France – where the film has proved a resounding hit, nominated for the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes – his work has touched both a younger audience and, perhaps more surprisingly, their parents. "A lot of young people went to see the film and were very interested, especially the young girls because they feel a connection with Isabelle," he muses, adding with a chuckle, "What is funny is that many mothers went to see the film with their daughters. I think it’s a good thing, because it’s a good way to have a conversation about sex!"
Jeune et Jolie is in cinemas now.
Text by Daisy Woodward
"There is a French movie I really loved when I was younger, Á Nos Amours by Maurice Pialat. It is Sandrine Bonnaire in her first part and it’s a beautiful coming of age film about a young girl who is looking for love, and her relationship with her father. It’s very strong and very powerful. But it’s funny because generally in France all the films about teenagers are very nostalgic; people show this period as a period of happiness. But for me, this period was the opposite. It was very difficult, I was suffering a lot and I was not happy, and it was important for me to show another side of this in a film. It is a time of confusion, you are lost. You don’t know exactly what you are becoming because your body is changing and hormonal and you have some new desires. You see that people are looking at you differently. You are no longer a child; people can be excited by you because you are young, fresh, pretty. So all these different things in yourself change. You’re bigger and you have too many questions, it can be very violent for young people."
"In France all the films about teenagers are very nostalgic, people show this period as a period of happiness, but for me it was the opposite"
Fed up with idealised French films about blissful adolescent years spent frolicking, (french) kissing and finding first love, acclaimed director François Ozon – of Swimming Pool, 8 Women and Potiche fame – decided it was high time that a filmmaker explored a different coming-of-age experience, one more turbulent and excruciating, one closer to his own. The result is his latest film, Jeune et Jolie, an oblique, melancholy drama about the sexual awakening of privileged Parisian beauty, Isabelle (played by the breathtakingly pretty Marine Vacht). The film takes place over a year, divided into four seasons, during which time we see the distant seventeen-year-old take a surprising leap from losing her virginity to high class prostitution. Stylishly shot, beautifully toned and impressively acted, the film is bleak and painful, moving and beguiling all at once, asking lots of questions and giving few answers.
