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projectcyclops [Film Festival 06.15.11] France movie review drama

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Year: 2011
Directors: Céline Sciamma
Writers: Céline Sciamma
IMDB: link
Trailer: link
Review by: projectcyclops
Rating: 6.5 out of 10

[Editor's note: Watch for more coverage from the 2011 Edinburgh Film Festival in the days to come!]

Michaël is like any other kid his age; he plays football with the boys, swims in the river and shares quiet conversations with his girlfriend Lisa. In fact for a boy who's only just moved into the area and not yet started at his new school, he's proving very popular with the local children. There's one snag though, Michaël isn't a boy, he's a girl called Laure and she's got the whole neighbourhood fooled.

This is the premise of Céline Sciamma's (Water Lilies) new film, in which the startlingly androgynous young actress Zoé Héran plays Laure/Michaël, who fools her friends when they ask her name by simply saying "Je m'appelle Michaël", and there are no more questions asked, she is a ten year-old boy in their eyes.


While the motive behind her decision is left kind of vague, we can see that in normal life (ie, when not pretending to be a boy) she's the kind of girl who would rather go without make-up, wears shorts rather than dresses and prefers a kick-about in the park to ballet (in contrast we meet her little sister Jeanne, who is all things pink and fluffy, and indeed attends ballet lessons). While her parents are not in the least bit judgemental of her attitude, I suppose we can see the logic behind Laure's trick, she just wants to mess around with the boys, get into fights and spit on the ground. However, as the new school term approaches she begins to panic, and when her 'girlfriend' (the relationship is kept largely platonic with only one kiss, as these kids aren't sexual yet - indeed the film is not about gender identity or lgbt issues, but more a character study) asks why Michaël isn't on the school rota, Laure realises what a hole she's dug herself into. The result when her secret is revealed is intense, sad and eventually redeeming, but we knew it couldn't last (not least because she's about to hit puberty and that would provide a few tricky questions!).

I have to say I'm glad I slept on this one as afterward I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. The cinematography is lush, the direction assured and confident and the main child actors are so good you'll forget you're not watching adults (and let's face it, most of the time child actors are annoying as hell), but it's also slightly... "French". I mean it's a little too precious for it's own good, if you get what I mean (this is not a jibe at French cinema, I mean rather the cliched notion of something as being "French"). The script is not strong either, and there's a lack of humour that would have benefited the feel of the film. Take one scene which everyone is talking about: after 'Michaël' is invited to go swimming, Laure cuts her bathing suit so it's effectively a swim-brief, but she realizes that there is no outline of male... bits. She ingeniously get out the Play-Doh and sculpts a crude prosthesis which then fits neatly in the front of her bathing suit. Writing that I smile to myself at how silly it is, but while actually watching the scene unfold I was struck by how desperate and even sad it was, and was left biting my nails at the notion she would be caught, rather than enjoying any pay-off. In the end she's fine though, nobody notices and I wondered why write the scene in if it doesn't add anything? Ah yes, because everyone will talk about it.

Overall I did like Tomboy, I think more for the things it avoided than the elements that worked well. It doesn't judge any of the characters, it treats childhood with a degree of innocence while also showing the fear and uncertainty of growing up, just about to hit puberty and still slightly naive, but without resorting to the twee or saccharin (thank god). I liked that the sisters relationship felt completely natural; void of the tired old sibling rivalry cliche, (in fact as little sister Jeanne realises what Laure's doing, she buys into the fantasy big time, bragging about, "My tough older brother who protects me") and even the relationship the pair share with the parents is so naturalistic it verges of vérité. I liked the strong direction, sure, the way the light filtered through the trees and the forest looked beautiful, but what I liked more was that this is a completely original work, and treated the subject with grace and intelligence. I can also see actress Zoé Héran becoming a great talent in French cinema, whether she wants to play a girl or a boy is up to her, she was good as both.

It's not a strong thumbs-up, but I'd see it again for sure.


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Sam (5 months ago) Reply

They kissed TWICE actually.

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projectcyclops (5 months ago) Reply

Mea culpa.


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