[1] tomboy_Medium.JPG > Tomboy
4 stars (out of 5)
Director: Celine Sciamma
Cast: Zoe Heran, Malonn Levana, Jeanne Disson, Sophie Cattani, Mathieu Demy, Yohan Vero, Noah Vero
Rating: (M)
With her second feature, French writer/director Celine Sciamma (Water Lilies), working with minimal funding and a skeleton crew, has come up trumps. Through the eyes of 10-year-old Laure (Zoe Heran), Tomboy focuses on a summer holiday when childhood friendship is tested through an unsettling dissection of gender identity.
Arriving in a new neighbourhood with her parents and younger sister Jeanne (Malonn Levana), Laure looks like a boy, with her short hair, sinewy physique and fondness for sports clobber. It takes quite an effort as a viewer to keep reminding yourself that "she" is Laure, and that is crucial.
Laure introduces herself to the local kids as Mickael. Since they have no reason to think Mickael is anything other than a rough-and-tumble football-loving French lad, Laure manages to maintain the deception, but only just.
There is no doubt that with a script based on such subtle gender confusion, the casting is paramount. Getting Zoe Heran is a stroke of genius; without her, it's hard to imagine Tomboy being half as plausible. Not only does she physically succeed in "being a boy", but she is a revelation when it comes to acting out Laure's awkward efforts to keep her secret intact.
Tomboy is a triumph of clever scriptwriting, beautifully choreographed set-ups, and genuine on-screen chemistry. Somehow managing to be engaging and aloof at the same time, it feels like a short film stretched to feature length. Yet, there is easily enough substance to keep you hanging in to see how Laure will cope once "outed" by her gang.
Best thing: The whole child cast; they give astonishingly natural performances.
Worst thing: Never quite getting to the bottom of what possessed Laure to assume the persona of Mickael in the first place.
See it with: An open mind.
- Mark Orton.
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