Esther Kahn

Esther Kahn is the first English-language film by the French director Arnaud Desplechin. It premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival where it competed for the Palme d'Or, but was not distributed to the United States for two years until it played in New York City in 2002. It stars Summer Phoenix as Esther and Ian Holm as her friend and teacher, Nathan Quellen.

Plot
Esther Kahn, a Jewish girl in 19th Century London, dreams of becoming a stage actress.

Cast

 * 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
 * Emmanuelle Devos - Sylvia (the Italian woman)
 * Paul Regan - Joel
 * Arnold Brown - Rabbi
 * Leon Lissek - Theatre manager
 * Ian Bartholomew - Norton
 * Samantha Lavelle - Christel
 * Kika Markham - Trish
 * Paul Ritter - Alman, the photographer

Production
Deplechin adapted the screenplay with regular collaborator Emmanuel Bourdieu from a short story by Arthur Symons of the same name from his book Spiritual Adventures. Summer Phoenix auditioned three times before she was offered the role of Esther.

Reception
Initial reviews of the film were mixed. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 52%, based on 25 reviews. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100, based on 12 critics.

Cahiers du cinéma named it the best film of 2000. In 2010 it ranked 52nd on Film Comment's end of the decade critics poll.