Directed by:
Arnaud DesplechinCinematography:
Eric GautierComposer:
Howard ShoreCast:
Summer Phoenix, Ian Holm, Fabrice Desplechin, Frances Barber, Emmanuelle Devos, Kika Markham, Anton Lesser, Josef Altin, Michael Müller, Paul Ritter (more)Plots(1)
Set in London at the end of the 19th century, the film tells the story of Esther Kahn (Phoenix), an introverted working class Jewish girl who has trouble fitting in with the rest of her East End family, of which all members work in the family sweatshop. Esther is slow and stubborn, she never has an opinion about anything, she never feels anything for anybody, she's a stone. Yet she forces herself to consider questions usually reserved for philosophers about the life, drems and her identity, but as hard as she tries to imitate others, Esther comes to realize that this isn't the way to become a person. Then, once in the theatre Esther "wakes up", she comes to life: because she doesn't watch the play like others do, she lives it. She decides to become an actress and to use other characters to discover who she truly is. Esther now begins to learn how to act and to live. And it is these lessons that, one evening, on stage, all of a sudden, make her reveal twenty years of suppressed life. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Summer Phoenix
USA
Best movies:
The Believer (2001)
SLC Punk! (1998)
I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998)
Ian Holm
UK
Best movies:
Fabrice Desplechin
Best movies:
The Sentinel (1992)
Esther Kahn (2000)
My Sex Life... or How I Got Into an Argument (1996)
Frances Barber
UK
Best movies:
King Lear (2008) (TV movie)
A Zed & Two Noughts (1985)
Agatha Christie: Poirot (1989) (series)
Emmanuelle Devos
France
Best movies:
The Other Son (2012)
In the Beginning (2009)
The Adversary (2002)
Kika Markham
UK
Best movies:
Agatha Christie: Poirot (1989) (series)
Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965)
Two English Girls (1971)
Anton Lesser
UK
Best movies:
Endeavour (2012) (series)
The Hollow Crown (2012) (series)
Ripper Street (2012) (series)
Josef Altin
UK
Best movies:
Chernobyl (2019) (series)
Boy A (2007)
Eastern Promises (2007)
Paul Ritter
UK
Best movies:
Chernobyl (2019) (series)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2012) (theatrical recording)
The Audience (2013) (theatrical recording)
Ben Shockley
UK
Best movies:
Lady Jane (1986)
Esther Kahn (2000)
All the King's Men (1999) (TV movie)
Jon Rumney
Best movies:
Hilary and Jackie (1998)
The Way We Live Now (2001) (series)
Eleni (1985)
Ann Firbank
India
Best movies:
The Crucible (2014)
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982) (TV movie)
Agatha Christie: Poirot (1989) (series)
Hilary Sesta
Best movies:
Jonathan Creek (1997) (series)
Cadfael (1994) (series)
Agatha Christie: Poirot (1989) (series)
Akbar Kurtha
Best movies:
A Street Cat Named Bob (2016)
Second Sight: Kingdom of the Blind (2000) (TV movie)
Second Sight: Parasomnia (2000) (TV movie)
Zita Sattar
UK
Best movies:
Dalziel and Pascoe (1996) (series)
Responsible Child (2019) (TV movie)
Vera (2011) (series)
Ralph Nossek
UK
Best movies:
Citizen X (1995) (TV movie)
Brazil (1985)
Les Misérables (1998)
Gregory Gudgeon
Best movies:
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
Esther Kahn (2000)
A Boy Called Christmas (2021)
Bryan Newton
Best movies:
Esther Kahn (2000)
Derek Smee
UK
Best movies:
The Way We Live Now (2001) (series)
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)
A Merry War (1997)