In the last 15 years, Céline Sciamma has established herself as one of the most exciting and important women filmmakers in world cinema. Although Sciamma’s 2019 film Portrait of a Lady on Fire garnered worldwide acclaim, each of her films, from her very first feature Water Lilies, has been an accomplished and thoughtful exploration of identity and coming-of-age.
The French filmmaker’s second film, Tomboy, is a quintessential Sciamma film. It is intimate, heart-rending, and true. The story follows a 10 year old girl Laure (played by Zoé Héran) who moves with her family to a new Paris neighborhood during the summer. When she meets the neighborhood kids, she pretends to be a boy, going by the name Mickael. She is immediately accepted and gains a newfound sense of freedom and develops a close friendship with the other kids, particularly with another girl. It is not hard to guess what happens next.
It is confusing to navigate life as a kid. There are so many unforeseen situations that children just don’t have the experience or resources to handle adeptly. Sciamma’s gift here is that she believably locks into the mindset of a child in these circumstances. The film reminds us what it is like to play as a child, putting you in the mindset of a child again, with that innocence an freedom and laughter of playing with friends and hanging out with siblings and running around until it gets dark or your parents call you in for dinner. The kids actually talk and act and lie like kids – you scarcely believe that they are acting. Tomboy is one of the best films made from the viewpoint of a child, shot with tender and startling authenticity, and it is the rare one that isn’t as overtly tragic or despondent like Children of Heaven or Nobody Knows.
Héran is a revelation. She is perfectly cast – with dark, handsome eyes, soft features, and that 10 year old androgynous face and body. The reveal that Laure is a girl is masterfully done, and would be way more effective if the title of the movie didn’t give it away already. Laure’s little sister is unbelievably good too, in a rather limited role – she is so charming and precocious and almost unbearably cute.
What you take away from the film depends on you. Sciamma intentionally made this an exceptionally layered film that could speak to viewers of different ages, genders, and orientations. Like the kids’ experiences, the film itself is free of agendas. It is one summer in a child’s life, and we don’t know whether this experience will come to define her as a gendered person or just be a forgotten memory. It’s all quite possible.
Sciamma takes the fairly common plot convention of an unsustainable ruse, but with a twist, and imbues it with so much heart and childlike innocence that you can’t help but be swept away and not want it to end, even as things are coming to an unbearably tense head. The runtime of the film is a scant 82 minutes, but every scene is mesmerizing. You are consistently blown away throughout, not by crazy plot twists or big action stunts but a series of small personal moments that really hit you.
Tomboy isn’t an Important film – not a self-anointed one anyway. It is not trying to preach or to teach, but simply to tell a story, a slice of a 10 year old’s life. The best films are tender and inviting rather than pushy. Cinema is an experience that you open yourself up to, and Tomboy is the consummate reminder of that.
