Bridges are featured on the back of Euro banknotes, but what were initially designed to represent famous landmarks were rendered into “imaginary monuments” to keep the political peace. It’s a fact Jeanne (Claire Pommet) learns during a job interview with Atlas Bank and a lesson they’ll encounter again in Spirit of Ecstasy (La Vénus d’argent). The latest film from Héléna Klotz is presented in the wrapping of a financial world drama, but hidden inside is a unique and sensitive look at coming-of-age and the fortitude it takes to make dreams come true.
The job doesn’t pan out, but Jeanne seizes an opportunity to get noticed at the investment company where they intern on the coffee-fetching rung of the ladder. After pointing out an error in code that could’ve cost millions, Jeanne is taken under the wing of Farès (Sofiane Zermani), the slick and ruthless boss. Farès doesn’t care that Jeanne binds their chest and identifies themselves as “neutral” — their incredible facility with numbers is what matters. Jeanne quickly becomes a hand-picked, rising star and Farès teaches them how to dress for the role and provides a glimpse into a high life far from what they’ve known. Best of all, he starts making plans to include his protegé in launching a new hedge fund abroad.
After countless hours spent buried in mathematics textbooks and puzzling over formulas, this is music to Jeanne’s ears. This will take them far from the military base where Jeanne watches over her younger siblings while their single father works. More importantly, it’s a chance to escape the family’s military lineage and forge a path of their own. But dreams don’t come easy. The return of Jeanne’s former partner Augustin (Niels Schneider) from military service causes complications, while the ledger on Farès’ promises might be just as illusory as the bridges on Euro bills.
The magnetic and confident performance by singer-songwriter Claire Pommet (aka Pomme) in her acting debut anchors the occasionally scattershot screenplay of Spirit of Ecstasy. After opening with a robbery that vibes with the spirit of Bertrand Bonello’s Nocturama, the picture can seem uncertain about whether it wants to be a The Big Short/Margin Call-style drama or a study of young people trying to unstick themselves from life’s circumstances. It turns out it wants to be both. Those elements never quite seamlessly cohere but Pommet, working with Schneider, gets to the softer center of the picture. They beautifully render the delicate relationship between Jeanne and Augustin as the pair come to understand they can’t return to what they had but need each other to move forward. So does the picture.
Also helping to tighten the fabric of the film is some terrific work by cinematographer Victor Seguin (Blue Jean, Full Time) and editor Julien Lacheray (Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, Petite Maman, Girlhood). The former applies a sheen that feels like the matte pages of a business magazine — a polished blue-grey appliqué that matches Jeanne’s ever present suit — that even makes a messy retail employee break room brim with possibility. And through the film’s occasionally abrupt stylistic pivots, Lacheray holds its moving parts together, allowing them all to breathe in equal measure.
At supper one night, Augustin explains to Jeanne’s family that a bullet from an M4 enters the body making a small hole, and exits through a big wound. It’s a weapon designed to maim. Jeanne’s dreams are similarly fully loaded, starting as small kernels of an idea, but metastasizing to life-altering size. Spirit of Ecstasy makes a clumsy analogy out of Jeanne both fully inhabiting their own skin and pursuing a meaningful career. But its authentic depiction of the affection we need to make us strong, and the fearlessness required to keep going when knocked down, makes it worth joining Jeanne on their journey.
Director: Héléna Klotz
Screenplay: Noé Debré, Emily Barnett, Héléna Klotz
Cast: Claire Pommet, Niels Schneider, Sofiane Zermani, Anna Mouglalis, Grégoire Colin
Producers: Justin Taurand
Cinematography: Victor Seguin
Production design: Olivier Lellouche
Editing: Julien Lacheray
Music: Ulysse Klotz
Sound: Dana Farzanehpour, Mikael Barre, Daniel Sobrino
Production companies: Les Films du Bélier (France)
World sales: Pyramide International
Venue: Toronto International Film Festival (Platform)
In French
98 minutes
