Faintly French: Films #2 and #3

Well........ this project has certainly been a bit of a fail, hasn't it? I'm now one day away from finishing Winter Break, and I've seen a total of three French films. Although the original goal was two French movies a week, and though I've certainly had the time to easily achieve that, I've only managed to see one each week of the break. Hopefully I'll squeeze in one more before I get back to school tomorrow. But I also, in theory, have the entirety of Faust to read before I resume classes this Monday, so we'll see how that goes.

Last week, I watched a film called Heartbreaker for Faintly French #2.

(Photo from nynatas.org)

 
  Overall, I'd say this is a solid romantic comedy, but unfortunately for me, the romantic comedy is not really a genre I enjoy. Which is why it's stupid that I've chosen two French romcoms so far to review... But Netflix said I would like it! And for whatever reason, I kind of assumed that French romantic comedies would be a cut above American ones. However, I found it to be extremely predictable, and more than a tad bit boring. But I also think that Heartbreaker is a least a little bit funnier than other romantic comedies! I even laughed out loud during one scene. Despite how much I love films, I rarely laugh out loud during them, and so I'd say that's quite an achievement! 

Also, I thought there was a very interesting blend of English and French in this film. To me, it felt as though the filmmaker assumes that the viewer is a native French speaker, but knows English as well. The dialogue is mainly in French, but the fiancee (Andrew Lincoln from The Walking Dead?! No idea he was British?!?!) spoke English for the most part. Also, all of the music featured English vocals and a large portion of the movie centers around the American film Dirty Dancing. I haven't seen many French films obviously, but is this integration of English and American culture common? Let me know! It's quite interesting!

So, overall, I would say that Heartbreaker is quite an average film. I don't think I would watch it again, but it was certainly not a cringe-worthy experience. I definitely need to break out of the romantic comedy genre!! I've been trusting Netflix, which isn't exactly the smartest approach. Netflix is composed of the rejects of society, with a few extremely good films mixed in. It's definitely gotten more quality with time... Still, you can't expect to find gems every time!

But sometimes you do. The next film I watched is called Tomboy. 

(Photo from IMPAwards.com)

I'm trying to decipher my feelings about this film, mostly because I wasn't expecting to get into it, but I got much more emotionally invested than I intended. A simple movie like this would normally bore me, yet this film didn't at all. Coming away from it, I'm harboring a bundle of mixed emotions.

     First of all, I feel it's really important to point out how much I loved the camerawork in this movie!! There was something very simple and sweet and tender about it; the shots were discreet and to-the-point at the same time. And they did one of my favorite things to do with a camera: make ordinary activities beautiful. Just have to get that out of the way before I start discussing content (:

     After finishing this film, I felt quite sad for Mikael (I will be referring to Laure/Mikael as Mikael because honestly I think that is who he truly wants to be and I'm going to respect that). First of all, on a very basic level, it must be quite difficult to battle with the fact that you may have been born into the wrong sex. Then imagine moving to a new town, a completely new start, and you get this opportunity to be who you really want to be. You make this great group of friends that you can act like yourself around, though on the surface, it's a lie. You find this girl you really like. Your sister finds out you're pretending to be a boy, but instead of fighting this the whole way, she actually gets really accepting really quickly. She tells grand stories of her "older brother" and loves playing along. And for a while, things are going okay, even though you still spend every moment alone struggling with your gender identity. And then... everything falls apart at once.

     It was never an ideal situation to begin with, because Mikael had to essentially lie to his friends in order to be as close to himself as he could be. But to see his mother appalled at her daughter pretending to be a boy, and to see Lisa call their romance 'disgusting', and to see all of Mikael's friends abandon him kind of broke my heart. The entire movie, I was petrified about someone revealing Mikael's born sex and having to see him humiliated. And then all of my fears came true. 

    Though I suppose, his family was more accepting than they could have been. Even his mother told him that pretending to be a boy didn't make her sad... She just couldn't see a way of continuing the lie. I wish she could have acted more understanding, especially because this couldn't have been a complete surprise, honestly! She must have done some observation over the last couple of months. Though she could have assumed her daughter was just a "tomboy," isn't it fair to speculate that the idea must have crossed her mind at least once? True, it's wrong to assume that a girl wishes she were a boy just because she doesn't wear dresses. And keeping with that concept, I think that when a kid is trying to figure out who they are, as a parent, it's very important that you show support for whatever your kid does. If your daughter is a tomboy, support that. If your daughter is experimenting with makeup (I got made fun of by my aunt one time when I was in elementary school and trying to figure out makeup, and I spent like a half hour in the bathroom crying and trying to wipe it all off! We don't forget that shit! Even if I'm far past over the incident, haha.), let them experiment. If your daughter wants to be a boy, maybe you should have a conversation with your child, rather than slapping him and forcing him into a dress. I agree that a lie is a lie, and honesty is the best policy, but perhaps a more gentler approach could have been taken by Mikael's mother when dealing with the situation. 

From my experience, self-acceptance is fragile, and you've got to treat it as such.

(Photo from angrydance.tumblr.com)

My favorite relationship in the movie was that of Mikael and his little sister. There was so much love there. And being six years old, his little sister was one of the most understanding a loving characters of the film. But after all that happened in this story, I have quite a bit of respect for Lisa as well. I mean, if you think about the movie from her perspective, finding out Mikael's secret probably confused her to no end. She's only in the fourth grade, and for the first time, Lisa probably had to step back and ponder about her sexuality. If I liked Mikael, does that mean I like girls? But I thought he was a boy... But he's a girl. But I didn't know. But I still liked... her? Big things to be wondering at such a young age, for Mikael and Lisa both. And yet, when all of their friends abandoned him, Lisa still wanted to be in his life. She wanted a new start. Something to keep this great person in her life, though if she were an adult perhaps this would have been seen as insensitive, rejecting the name Mikael identifies with. But for Christ's sake, she's doing fabulously for her young age!

     Which brings us to the ending of this film. And the final line, "Je m'appelle Laure." Honestly, that moment left me incredibly dissatisfied. Somehow, after all of this, I had hoped that Mikael would be able to "find" himself and express himself accordingly. Instead, he presents himself as a girl. And I don't know what the smile at the end means: it cannot possibly mean that this kid now accepts the identity of Laure, after all of that questioning? I just don't think that could be so, that this child is simply a "tomboy" and that's it. I'm thinking that perhaps the smile signifies a freedom from having to lie anymore to this person he cares so much about. That is the only explanation that makes sense to me.

     But that conclusion means that for the time being, Mikael has to present himself with an identity that is not true to who he really is. And that... that is disheartening. But that is the struggle of the transgendered community, when they realize their true identity at such a young age and the environment around them is not accepting. Maybe I'm not making the right conclusion about this film, but that's my take on it. I think my mixed emotions are highly appropriate.

Wow, that was longer than intended! But after talking it out, I actually am kind of in love with this film. Great camerawork, great acting from such young children, great subject matter, great intellectual wheels turning in my head! This is the first new movie I've seen in 2013, and I'm thankful for it.

IN SHORT: I HIGHLY RECCOMEND THIS FILM!

♥ Happy Watching ♥