The uncut diamond (Diamant brut, France, 2024, 103 min.)
The debut of the French director about the modern obsession with appearance and fame. The combative and energetic nature of the film hides in itself the deep sadness of the central theme: that for many young women beauty and pain are one and the same.
Directed and written by Agathe Riedinger
Photo: No Photo Bach
Montage: Lila Desiles
Music: Audre / Isma / / Isma / /
Played By: Malou Khebizi, Idir Azougli, Andr Aluta Bescond, Ashle Aluta Romano, Ale Aluta Manenti, Kilia Fernane, L Aluta Gorla, Ale Aluta Noisier, Antonia Buresi
Festivals, Awards: Cannes; Namur (Best Actress award); Stockholm (Best Actress award); Busan; Sarajevo; Liffe
Distribution: Fivia-Vojnik
Genre: drama
Story
Nineteen-year-old Liane lives with her mother and younger sister in a small town in the south of France. The beauty and fame-obsessed young woman sees in reality shows the opportunity to finally "become someone". When she is invited to audition for The Miracle Island show, it seems that Luck has only smiled at her …
Author's statement
"The uncut diamond comes from two of my obsessions. The first are the cocottes of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, among them Caroline OT Islamitro, Islammilienne d'alen Islamiton and Liane de Poug. These women with amazing life stories were often born in poverty, but with the help of their beauty and determination they became wealthy courtesans, saint-like figures and even wives of princes. Another topic that appeals to me is reality shows. Not those in which individuals have to show their talent for art, cooking or survival in the wild; I only watch shows that expect participants to ‘be what they are’. I find this a very interesting topic to explore. But, of course, I wholeheartedly condemn class contempt, the hypersexualization of women and sexism that these shows embody, the rape culture they promote, and the conservative and ultra-consumerist values they promote.
But from the point of view of competitors, reality shows are often a way to succeed in life. For those with limited access to education and employment or suffering from a lack of social and emotional support, they can be an alternative to unemployment; proof that success, as defined by capitalism, is no longer the domain of the elite. I fully understand why anyone would want to participate. Reality television promises the best candidates an extraordinary life full of money and luxury, as well as the unconditional love of fans of all ages. It is watched by both six-year-old children and adults in their fifties, and the most famous contestants have more than seven million followers on social networks. I'm one of them. I am stunned by the mixture of frankness and violence we are witnessing. I am fascinated by women who emphasize their femininity with false nails, hair extensions, surgically enlarged buttocks and breasts; with everything too long, too short, too tight and too colorful. They are sorceresses in a world ruled by appearance. A world that proclaims freedom, but at the same time expects self-sacrifice from people. The display of beauty can be described as silly and narcissistic, but the exaggeration and supernaturally rounded (and therefore divine?) the bodies, in fact, speak of the fear of non-existence and the need for confirmation.
When I began to deal with phenomena separated by more than a century, I realized that the fates of these women overlap. Like cocottes, modern TV show Stars / ... / defy the Justice of their time, shamelessly celebrate the cult of their personality, stir up passions and question the definition of ‘real woman’. From one century to another, they tell about representatives of the ‘weaker sex’ who turned their fragility into a weapon, combining three roles that women are still too often forced to play: virgin, mother and whore.«
Agathe Riedinger