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Esther Kahn
2000 History / Drama
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Credits
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Director: Arnaud Desplechin
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Script: Emmanuel Bourdieu, Arnaud Desplechin, based on a story by Arthur Symons
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Photo: Eric Gautier
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Music: Howard Shore, Camille Saint-Saëns
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Cast: Summer Phoenix (Esther Kahn),
Ian Holm (Nathan Quellen),
Fabrice Desplechin (Philippe Haygard),
Akbar Kurtha (Samuel Kahn),
Frances Barber (Rivka Kahn),
László Szabó (Ytzhok Kahn),
Hilary Sesta (Buba),
Claudia Solti (Mina Kahn),
Berna Raif (Becky Kahn),
Paul Regan (Joel),
Arnold Brown (Rabbi),
Leon Lissek (Theatre manager),
Ian Bartholomew (Norton),
Samantha Lavelle (Christel),
Paul Ritter (Alman,
the photographer),
Emmanuelle Devos (Sylvia l'Italienne),
Kika Markham (Trish),
Anton Lesser (Sean)
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Country: France / UK
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Language: English
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Runtime: 142 min
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Summary
In the late 19th Century, Esther Kahn and her immigrant Jewish family settle in the East
End of London. Whilst the rest of her family occupy themselves with their business,
making clothes in a dreary workshop, Esther dreams of a better life for herself.
A visit to the theatre makes such an impression on her that she decides to become an actress…
Review
Esther Kahn is the first English language film
from the promising French film director Arnaud Desplechin, whose two previous full-length
films and a short film were all well-received by the critics. It is an ambitious
period piece, based on a story by a little-known English writer Arthur Symons, whose “spiritual
adventure” style Desplechin sought to emulate in his film, but with limited success.
Although the film is beautiful to look at, with an extraordinarily authentic-looking
recreation of Victorian England and some high-art photography, as a piece of cinema it
is painfully stilted and uninteresting. In his earlier films, Desplechin displayed
a talent for characterisation and intrigue which is all but absent in this film.
In spite of some full-bodied performances from great actors such as Summer Phoenix and
Ian Holm, the characters feel distant, hollow and unsympathetic. In the end, it
is the film’s excessive run-time that just about kills it. At very nearly two and
half hours, and with very little in the way of content or style to justify that, the film
is just too long to sustain the interest of even the most patient spectator. Ester
Kahn feels more like a self-indulgent experiment in cinematic style than a serious
attempt to create a moving piece of drama.
© James Travers 2006
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