Esther Kahn (2000)
Directed by Arnaud Desplechin

Film 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.

Film Synopsis

Towards the end of the 19th century, Esther Kahn lives with her immigrant Jewish family in the East End of London.  With the rest of her family busily occupied with their thriving tailoring business Esther feels increasingly isolated, dreaming of a better life for herself.  After a visit to the theatre she makes up her mind to become an actress.  At first, she has to content herself with small roles, but one day she has the good fortune to meet Nathan Quellen, an old actor who, convinced of her talent, offers to give her drama lessons.  Esther is determined to make a success of her career, but lacking the ability to show feelings for others in real life, how can she hope to simulate this on the stage...?