How does one become an accomplished actor or actress? What are the appropriate life experiences and coaching secrets? Esther Kahn, directed and written by Arnaud Desplechin, provides answers to both questions, at least for one Jewish tenement girl in London at the end of the nineteenth century, in a film 145 minutes in length. The story begins with Esther as a child, bored with her task as a seamstress in the family sweatshop; as a result, she sews too slowly to help the family. Indeed, she is so emotional about the way in which her identity is stifled that she seeks to be phlegmatic, that is, without emotion. One day as a young woman (played by Summer Phoenix) she observes a stage play and is enthralled; finally, she has found something exciting in life, so she aspires to be an actress. However, a phlegmatic personality is hardly likely to impress an audience, so she has to learn how to unleash her emotions on stage. At one point Nathan Quellen (played by Ian Holm) takes her under his wing, instructing her on how to act, though Esther insists on paying him so that she will not be obligated to reciprocate in some undesired manner. Soon, she meets Philip (played by Fabrice Desplechin), a playwright who seduces her, but she hides her emotional attraction to him until he shows off his Italian mistress (played by Emmanuelle Devos). Esther then becomes despondent and declares that she is unable to go on stage, especially when he appears at a performance of Hedda Gabler accompanied by his mistress. However, encouraged by fellow members of the cast and the play’s director, she performs anyway, and the emotional cauldron is channeled into the most spirited acting performance of her career. She has become a legend. MH