In Paris, in 1942, a young Jewish girl bites into life by discovering friendship, love and, above all, by cultivating her passion for the theater and her desire to become an actress. The days then follow one another in the carelessness of youth…
As her first feature film as a director, Sandrine Kiberlain offers us a great balancing act. The one who has already been cited nine times as an actress at the Césars (she won the trophy in 2014 thanks to her performance in 9 months firmby Albert Dupontel) achieves a kind of tour de force by echoing the ardor of youth, its lightness too, although the setting in which this initiatory tale is set evokes one of the darkest periods of the history of mankind.
Writing her screenplay alone, drawing inspiration freely from her own family history, Sandrine Kiberlain thus follows the journey of a young 19-year-old woman, Irène, a French Jew who, in this year 1942, experiences passions on several fronts, the main being her absolute desire to pursue an acting career.
Even if the Occupation makes the context in which Irène evolves very particular, the filmmaker does not insist on the reconstruction of the period or on the symbols seen a thousand times in the cinema. The Nazi threat is instead illustrated in a more subdued way at first, to then become progressively more insistent. In the mind of the future actress, the mandatory wearing of a yellow star will not be able to overcome her dreams or the means she will take to achieve them. Never.
As a result, Sandrine Kiberlain offers us a superb family portrait as a bonus. Around the remarkable Rebecca Marder, who finds here her first big role in the cinema (she played the young Simone Veil in Simone, the trip of the century and we will see it very soon in my crime, by François Ozon), features an excellent cast. Note also the presence of André Marcon in the role of the father, as well as that of Françoise Widhoff, an experienced editor and producer, who here for the first time in her life plays a role, namely the very touching of the grandmother.
Launched at the Critics’ Week of the Cannes Film Festival in 2021, A young girl who is well comes to us – finally – after a long detour through the intricacies of international distribution.
Indoors
Drama
A young girl who is well
Sandrine Kiberlain
With Rebecca Marder, André Marcon, Anthony Bajon
1:38