Tomboy

Year: 2011
Country: FRANCE
Run Time: 82 minutes

In French the term for a TOMBOY is directly translated as "failed boy," but the translation misrepresents this subtle and tender film about a young girl's summer as a boy. Laure (Zoé Héran) has just moved to a small suburb of Paris where she seizes the opportunity to redefine herself as Mikael. The gender switch is fluid. With Mikael's oversized boys' shorts, macho mannerisms, and distant visage, the neighborhood children never suspect that there is a deception taking place. We are privy to the magical and cruel world of childhood as the mother, on bed rest for the last weeks of her pregnancy, allows Laure and her young sister Jeanne to pass the summer days with relative freedom from adult intervention. The seed of young love takes hold between Mikael and Lisa, a popular neighborhood girl. But what could seem like tender moments only serve to heighten the suspense as the school year is approaching and Mikael's true identity as Laure is sure to surface when attendance is called. (In French with subtitles) – S.H.

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