Esther Kahn (2000)

A Jewish girl in nineteenth century London, dreams of becoming a stage actress.

Director:

Arnaud Desplechin

Writers:

Emmanuel Bourdieu, Arnaud Desplechin

Stars:

Summer Phoenix, Ian Holm, Fabrice Desplechin

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

A Jewish girl in nineteenth century London, dreams of becoming a stage actress.

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | two word title | esther kahn character | artistic creation | jewess | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chosen by "Les Cahiers du cinéma" (France) as one of the 10 best pictures of 2000 (#01)

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Quotes

Nathan Quellen: Because what has to happen, is that every step you take has to be more unbelievable than the step before. E-Every step has to be - well it has to have an idea behind it, an idea t-that is so complex, it would take, 10 philosophers just to decipher it. Each step has to stretch like a rope - in the audiences mind. Until they can't bare it anymore and they wan to cry out, "Careful Esther you're going to break it".

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Connections

Referenced in I'm Still Here (2010)

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Soundtracks

The Little Red Lark
[by] Reynaldo Hahn
Performed by Huesyin Sermet and Kun Woo Paik
courtesy of Naïve Auvidis

User Reviews

Don't bother

Sleepwalking, dead, boring, an endurance test for the audience - all have been said before so why am I adding to the comments I agree with? There is this:

"...it isn't before a man treats her badly that she realizes on stage, that she has talent and that she connects with the audience and emerges as a stronger human being."

This must be the reviewer's imagination talking. One can tell that this is the point of the movie that its makers are trying to make but they failed. Utterly. The only reason I kept it going in the machine was to see if they could redeem themselves. But they did not. It's a very big disappointment. There is no connection with the audience - either in the theater's audience inside the story itself or the movie audience watching this.

Too many close-ups, just way too many. I'd call it possibly a workshop on close-ups - if you're in the business. Otherwise, why waste money on this? It's just pointless.

"the film never reveals more than it needs to."

Honestly, it reveals nothing.

And yes, why was so much money thrown at this movie? I seriously wonder if the backers needed to lose money for tax purposes.

Details

Official Sites:

Bac Films [France] (French) Empire Pictures [France]

Country:

France UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 October 2000 (France)

Also Known As:

Szenvedélyes színdarab

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,124, 3 March 2002

Gross USA:

$23,371

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$23,371

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arts Council of England, British Screen Productions, British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1