“Tomboy” Celine Sciamma spins solidarity with the unseen life

far from determinism

In Tomboy, Laure/Mikael (Zoe Elan), who pretends to be a boy, carefully observes how she views the boys around her and how she herself is viewed. Filmmaker Celine Sciamma's theatrical strategy is based on this observation, in which the protagonist takes on the challenge of exploring an unknown world, creating a small adventure film.

Roll/Michael in Tomboy maintains representational fluidity in gender codes. Here, the gamble as a filmmaker is not to focus on what Roll/Michael wants to become, but rather to carefully pick up the blanks that spill out from the process that led to that action, to find out what kind of actions Roll/Michael took. . Roll/Michael is always on the lookout for Being There to become something different from what his body entails.

“Tomboy” © Hold-Up Films & Productions/ Lilies Films / Arte France Cinéma 2011

Roll/Michael joins the boys in their circle of play, and for a while begins to carefully observe the boys' actions and gestures. At the same time, there is a sense of alienation in Roll/Michael as an observer (however, this alienation is also an image of Roll/Michael seen from the audience's point of view, which is the profound thing about Tomboy). ), it seems as if he is calmly seizing the opportunity in front of the boys' commotion unfolding in front of him. Within this circle, Roll/Michael is calculating in his own way what he can do and how he will be seen as a result of his actions. Roll/Michael's sorrow and joy are always in an indeterminate, mixed state.

Also, the ``sounds'' that the boys make around Roll/Michael sound like ``sounds'' that are slightly removed from the center of their own consciousness, ``sounds'' that have some objectivity to them. The intimacy, the temperature, the way it resonates, and the way the "sound" permeates is somehow different from the usual innocent laughter emitted by my beloved sister.

Céline Sciamma tests Laure/Michael's identity by having her stand in front of a mirror. The idea of ​​seeking a new identity in a mirror image as an alter ego is not limited to the famous scene in `` Taxi Driver '' (1976), but has been attempted in many masterpieces to date. In this sense, Sciamma inherits tradition while experimenting with its application here. Practice spitting on the ground like the other boys. A gesture that confirms the state of the body's muscles... Every now and then, Roll/Michael returns to the mirror in his room to check the details. It is `` Portrait of a Lady on Fire, '' and rather than the portrait itself, it is the method of construction that carefully closes up the details of the process, such as the mixture of paints and the sound of the paintbrush scraping the canvas.

A story that begins with a scar