Rating:  

Starring: Zoé Héran, Malonn Lévana. Jeanne Disson, Sophie Cattani, Mathieu Demy, Yohan Vero, Noah Vero.
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Director: Céline Sciamma
Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 82 Minutes
Release Date: November 16, 2011
Home Video Release Date: TBD
Box Office: $96 Thousand
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Hold Up Films, arte France Cinema, Lilies Films, Canal+, Région Ile-de France, CTC, and Rocket Releasing.

Written by: Céline Sciamma.

Céline Sciamma’s Tomboy is a risky, yet endearing film about a 10-year old girl, Lauré (Zoé Héran), who begins a new summer having moved into a new community. At first blush, Lauré is mistakenly believed to be a boy and opts to not correct them. With her new friends, Lauré is Mikael, an alterego of sorts, but may very well be the person Lauré is, or eventually will become.

Lauré’s plan is essentially foolproof, or so she thinks. Initially, it is a girl named Lisa (Jeanne Disson) who errs in assessing Lauré but Lauré’s mistaken identity also affords her entry with a group of new friends who she can hang out with and bond with as Mikael. Tomboy hints at Lauré feeling different and lost in the shuffling deck of youthful expectations and as Mikael, acceptance is new, exciting, and comforting.

Away from home, Lauré easily fits into the role and she is able to adapt and mask the belief rather deftly. Undeveloped, she resembles her male friends enough that she can take part in a game of shirts and skins without detection. When everyone decides to go swimming at a lake, Lauré inventively finds a way to appear male where it matters and gets through that event largely unscathed. Also, she is starting to develop some feelings for Lisa, who is likewise interested in Mikael, and Lauré is innocently blind to the notion that any of this could ever slip away or fall apart.

When everything ultimately catches up to her and Mikael is revealed to actually, in fact, be Lauré, her parents are at a loss, especially her mother, who along with her 10-year old and 6-year old daughters, is nearing the birth of her first son. The dichotomy of perception, realization, and reality is sensitively portrayed by Sciamma, never falling victim to an Americanized approach to storytelling. There are consequences and a ripple effect from Lauré’s actions, but not in the way we as viewers may anticipate.

Though the premise is simple, the subject matter tackled by director and screenwriter, Céline Sciamma is anything but – as the idea of a 10-year old child’s exploring issues of gender identity is an honestly novel and original one. The centerpiece of this engaging little film is the performance given by Zoé Héran as Lauré/Mikael. If you are at all interested in Tomboy, she is tremendous here and leaves a lasting impression with her wide-eyed, innocent, but deeply resonating performance. Sciamma also builds up a blossoming relationship of sorts between Mikael and Lisa. Steeped in youthful curiosities, it is understandable that Lisa would be drawn to the new boy – he seems so different and less aggressive than all of her other friends. In one scene, Lisa is holding court over a youthful game of “Truth and Dare” and all the while, Mikael is off to the side, sitting behind and off and away from Lisa, an action that becomes more and more intriguing for Lisa to ponder.

Reliant on youth to sell a maturely-themed story, Sciamma has cast her film extremely well and Tomboy is a low-budget, thoughtful, French film that may speak more progressive and timely than one might think, given its wrappings as a lighter and sweet-natured drama. At 82 minutes, in all honesty, Tomboy feels padded out at times, with some scenes playing more as filler than always succeeding in propelling the film forward. More than once, I did wonder how much more impactful the film would have been as a longer-oriented short film.

Tomboy, however, is never boastful, and well aware of the present-day world it inhabits. The film proudly carries an always important message of tolerance – of loving and accepting people, and especially children, for who they are and who they hope and believe they can be. And personally, I will never grow tired of that message, especially when it is depicted and presented as eloquently as Céline Sciamma’s Tomboy does here.

Should I See It?

If you are open-minded to consider the film, it is downright impossible to not appreciate the depth of acting ability of the youth in this film, and the approach to this potentially polarizing story which Claire Sciamma opts for. This is a tender and sensitive engaging drama, with a terrific message and thoughful eye to the world it inhabits.

if you catch up to it, the film deserves a wider audience than simply a festival-aware audience. Queue it up, look for it if you live in a big city with an arthouse theater and you will likely not be disappointed.

For those who do take part, the film may seem simple and one-note, as if there is really not much here at all. I can understand that argument to some extent.

If you think that being LGBT is a choice and that LGBT people choose to be who they are, then…nevermind. You are never watching this in the first place. Which, honestly, is a shame, because the film is better than a whole lot of garbage people watch on a daily basis. Okay. Putting the soapbox back now.