The Beautiful Person
2008 · Directed by Christophe Honoré
Original language: French
- drama
- comedy
The story
In the wake of her mother's tragic death, French teenager Junie transfers to a different high school. Though Junie lives mostly inside her own head, her beauty and stoicism win her the attention of the entire male student population. Junie begins dating the gentle Otto Cleves, but finds herself intensely drawn to her youthful Italian language teacher, Nemours. When Nemours begins to reciprocate, serious complications ensue.
What it’s like
Hand-held, close camera that stays tight on faces in warm, bright provincial interiors, with the occasional playful break in tone that makes the frame feel like a diary rather than a set-piece. The palette leans on washed-out daylight, school corridors, bedrooms, and ordinary Paris streets, and the score and pop needle-drops move quickly between wistful and giddy. The mood is restless and tender, a grief story that keeps swerving into comedy and back, so it feels best on a loose afternoon rather than a sombre night. Pacing is brisk and conversational, with scenes that linger on awkward silences and sudden outbursts of feeling. The emotional register is teasing and melancholic: a young woman drifting through loss and infatuation, with the adults around her more fragile than they first appear. Intensity is moderate. There is no graphic violence, but the story centres on a teacher-student romance with sexual undertones, and there are frank teenage conversations about desire and sex. Grief and emotional unrest run throughout. It suits viewers who enjoy French coming-of-age films with a knowing, self-aware energy and who are comfortable with a morally messy, sexually charged teenage romance.
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