Belle Épine (2010)

Belle Épine (2010). 1h 20m | R

“This movie is somewhat similar to the more widely available u0026quot;The Beautiful Personu0026quot;, which features the same two young actresses, Lea Seydoux and Anais Demoustier. Iu0026#39;ll defer to other reviewers about the plot since I saw it in French without the benefit of subtitles. But it basically seems to be about a troubled teenage girl who befriends another troubled teenage girl after they are both arrested for shop-lifting. The two girls navigate a world of sex, drugs, and (to the extent it exists anymore) rock and roll.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eInterestingly, the same night I saw this on TV I also saw the latest American teen clap-trap u0026quot;Project Xu0026quot;. This American movie was in English, of course, but I watched it mostly with the sound down because it was so stupid that I didnu0026#39;t want to devote more than one of my senses to it. It is interesting to compare a typical American teen movie like u0026quot;Project Xu0026quot; to a typical French teen movie like this. American movies are more fantasy-driven, (allegedly) comical films, usually told from the male perspective of rutting teen virgins, who by the end of the movie inevitably wind up having consequence-free sex with some way-out-of-their-league fantasy girl that a rutting teen virgin like themselves would probably have no shot at in real life. French movies are more serious, adult affairs often told from the perspective of a teenage girl. They usually offer a much more downbeat or ambivalent view of sex and are (at least, marginally) more realistic.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFrench movies are more likely to show (full-frontal) nudity and more graphic sex. And it usually involves the female protagonists themselves. In the American films there are some occasional bare breasts, but itu0026#39;s almost never the u0026quot;good girlu0026quot; love interest, but some secondary actress with fake silicone boobs. The two actresses in this movie, Seydoux and Demoustrier, are both older than they look (so no one should feel TOO guilty about enjoying their nude/sex scenes), but they are still pretty believable as young teenagers. Because of the nudity, more graphic sexuality, and girls that look (and sometimes are) under 18, many French movies like this probably wouldnu0026#39;t go over very well in America, but really, which kind of movie is more likely to encourage teenagers to experiment with sex(to the extent that teenagers ANYWHERE need much encouragement)? u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI DO know which of these movies are more interesting to mature adults. I sorely regret wasting even one of my senses on u0026quot;Project Xu0026quot;, but I would actually be interested in seeing this movie again with some English subtitles.”