Cannes 2021: A Radiant Girl
Festival de Cannes 2021When it comes to haunting scars on the moral soul of humanity, The Holocaust easily is one of the deepest and most disgusting acts of human endeavor ever seen on the planet. While the event has naturally made its way to screen in haunting fashion with projects like Schindler's List, new projects are continually found capturing the true horrors of this event – with Sandrine Kiberlain's A Radiant Girl taking a fresh yet equally devastating perspective on the subject. Screening as part of the 2021 Festival de Cannes, A Radiant Girl focuses on the life of a young Jewish girl named Irene (Rebecca Marder) who lives in 1942 Paris. Filled with life and a passion for the stage, A Radiant Girl starts as a seeming celebration of the adolescent spirit only for something darker to develop and grow, threatening Irene and those around her.
Led by a charming lead performance from Rebecca Marder, it is hard not to feel immense joy whenever the audience gets to spend time with Irene. As mentioned, Irene is a young girl who has a love for life. She is charismatic and funny yet still incredibly serious and layered when it comes to her passions and desires. Every room she walks into and every person she encounters has no choice but to brighten and be touched by the inexplicable magic that both the character and the performance carry. For a film capturing such a dark event, this is a quite intriguing way to showcase the world of the time and even as more and more negativity starts to pile on top of Irene, her positivity and charm still shines until the very last frame of the film.
While some might think this tone and charm might take away from the darker sides of the film, in actuality it enhances their impact. As with documentaries capturing modern-day conflicts, such as Last Men in Aleppo, it often is the projects that focus on the relatable humanity that carries the most power. Irene isn't just some figure standing in the face of horror, she is a living and breathing human. By forcing the audience to accept and embrace her humanity, the truth of that humanity being lost and destroyed is all the more devastating. Even with the film being rather subtle about the growing dangers towards Irene and those around her, it gives just enough to pull the audience to the edge of their seats until the final shot absolutely floors them.
Sandrine Kiberlain's direction here will truly feel like a revelation, immediately announcing this director as a unique and talented voice to watch for years to come. The cinematography by Guillaume Schiffman is beautifully casual, capturing this world with a crafted yet surprisingly unnoticeable hand in the best of ways. The editing from François Gédigier is also rather fantastic, rounding out a rather technically accomplished feature both in front and behind of the camera. A major sign of this filmmaking success is how flawlessly the film fits into its 98-minute runtime, which both gives it time to breathe and stretch its legs without getting lost.
To put it simply, A Radiant Girl is something special. A unique yet incredibly effective blend of both the best and worst of humanity, the film is as charming as it is devastating. Even days after the final shot plays, it is hard to shake A Radiant Girl from the mind and is destined to leave a lasting impression on anyone who sees it.
