8. Marine Vacth - Jeune & Jolie
Cannes loves a bit of controversy, and this year was no different, with unsimulated lesbian and gay sex scenes, ripe Oedipal symbolism, and this, Francois Ozon's portrait of the sexual awakening of a 17 year old girl, played by newcomer Marine Vacth. There's no prize for guessing how Ozon wants us to enjoy his star (who is in fact not as young as the character) as even the first shot invites us to look down the lenses of a pair of binoculars, spying on a sunbathing Isabelle (Vacth) as she takes off her bikini top, forcing us into the position of complicit voyeurs immediately. From there on, Vacth plays the melancholic sex kitten (a curiously French creation) to perfection, offering an innocent surface image for her home life, with a sultry temptress bubbling beneath the surface, who isn't afraid to flirt with her stepfather for provocation, or her shrink. She is the walking nightmare of all mothers of teenage girls, and the assured performance of Vacth goes a long way to making Isabelle a more interesting character than the object of the collective audiences' affections.
Read the full Jeune & Jolie review here.