Review of Tomboy (2011) by Ada — 15 Nov 2011

FRESH!

Céline Sciamma?s exquisite Tomboy (Rocket Releasing) captures the alluring simplicity of children at play. But not just any children; these gifted French child actors assemble under Sciamma?s wing to tell the affectionate, heart-wrenching story of Laure/Mikaël (the captivating Zoé Héran), a young girl who passes for a boy after arriving in an idyllic new town with her family during summer vacation. The angelic Héran bestows Mikaël with an unquestionably pure male energy, and from the film?s opening, it?s resoundingly clear that this story belongs to a transgender child. The bracing shot of him standing naked in the bathtub might reveal a female body, but his identity is anything but. And the truly remarkable thing is the film doesn?t trouble itself to convince us of it?it simply is. Laure as Mikaël doesn?t take any ?getting used to?; Sciamma has far more pressing things to communicate. As Mikaël befriends a ragtag group of ?lost boys? and even finds a girlfriend, the only wrench in his otherwise lax childhood existence is his little secret?which he covers up in various creative ways?and the impending start of the school year.

Tomboy can almost be regarded as the juvenile (and more delicate) precursor to Boys Don?t Cry, surpassing even Ma vie en rose?another French film about a child teetering between genders?in its treatment of a trans person coming into his own. In the end, Tomboy is about much more than gender identity?it?s simply about identity, and how we move through childhood in our dogged search for it.