Tomboy (Sciamma, 2011)
From my collection of original writing from 2011, here’s a review of one of the most influential films of the decade.
Sciamma has already been featured in these pages thanks to Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
Much more subtle, much more open to interpretation, is Céline Sciamma’s quiet little puzzle Tomboy. Ten year old Laure (Zoé Héran) moves with her parents and younger sister to a new town. It’s the summer holidays and while her mum and dad are busy with their grown-up version of settling in, shy Laure tries to find new friends. When she is mistaken for a boy by Lisa (Jeanne Disson) she becomes Mikel and plays along with her new identity until society demands that she can’t simply choose her gender any more.
One synopsis I’ve read for the film suggests that Laure becomes a boy to fit in – to avoid embarrassment among her new friends she doesn’t correct them and it soon becomes too late to go back – but it seems to me that it is much more of a conscious choice, an extreme version of the kind of experiments that all children go through. Laure’s attraction to Lisa may be a factor too, but who knows? That’s the strength of Tomboy, it doesn’t hand you everything on a plate or dictate the response it expects you to have. It’s a film about a ten year old that treats you like an adult.
Where to find Tomboy
Aotearoa: Digital rental from AroVision
Australia: n/a
USA: Streaming on Criterion Channel
UK: Digital rental
Further reading
My survey of the Sight & Sound best 50 films has reached equal-38 and Jean-Luc Godard’s debut, Breathless.
