Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2018: #48. Eva Ionesco’s Une jeunesse dorée

Published on January 3, 2018

Une jeunesse dorée

Eva Ionesco, daughter of Romanian-French photographer Irina Ionesco, documented her incendiary tell-all of her tumultuous relationship with her mother in the 2011 debut My Little Princess, which found Isabelle Huppert in Mommie Dearest mode. She reteams with Huppert for her sophomore film, Une jeunesse dorée (aka A Golden Youth) in a 1979 set Parisian tale of an abandoned sixteen-year-old girl and her twenty-two-year-old fiancé and their experiences in trendy nightclub Le Palace. They encounter an older bohemian couple (Huppert and perhaps Melvil Poupaud) who end up taking the youths under their wing. Galatéa Bellugi, Lukas Ionesco and Alain-Fabien Delon complete the cast.

Release Date/Prediction: Ionesco premiered her debut in 2011 Critics’ Week. As filming commenced in November on Une jeunesse dorée, we’re assuming Ionesco will be aiming for round two at Cannes. The presence of Huppert and Poupaud should enhance its chances, though most likely a return to Critics’ Week or a placement in Directors’ Fortnight may be in the cards.

Nicholas Bell

Los Angeles based Nicholas Bell is IONCINEMA.com's Chief Film Critic and covers film festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Cannes and TIFF. He is part of the critic groups on Rotten Tomatoes, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and GALECA. His top 3 for 2021: France (Bruno Dumont), Passing (Rebecca Hall) and Nightmare Alley (Guillermo Del Toro). He was a jury member at the 2019 Cleveland International Film Festival.