For those of us who read Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books, the definitive tomboy – the lass who acted like a lad – was George, who swigged ginger beer with the best of them. She was socially accepted without any of the gender difficulties of the pre-pubescent Laure (Zoè Heran), the young David Beckham lookalike protagonist of French writer-director Céline Sciamma’s second feature, Tomboy.
When she moves in with her family – mother, father and younger sister – to a new district during the summer holidays, Laure makes friends with the local housing estate boys while passing herself off as Michael. The only girl she makes friends with is Lisa (Jeanne Disson), who has a crush on her. Laure/Michael impresses with her football skills. But what happens when friends call on her? How does she manage her sister’s discovery of her double life? Then there is that awkward first kiss. Just how far can Laure take her expression of her own gender identity without someone getting hurt?
This is precisely the sort of movie that should get a wide release, be talked about in schools and accepted as one of the 100 best films about childhood, alongside Les Quatre Cents Coups, ET – The Extra Terrestrial and Kes. Why is the British Film Institute supporting A Lonely Place to Die and not this? The acting is naturalistic, the dilemma not easily solved and sympathies extend to both perpetrator and dupe of a masquerade. The story is told with brisk efficiency. Had Sciamma set the drama during term time, Laure would have less opportunity to enjoy her fantasy life. But why should it be a fantasy at all? Tomboy isn’t the most emotional wrenching film of the year so far, but it is certainly one to stimulate a debate about a problem child who shouldn’t be a problem at all.
