Tomboy (2011)

A family moves into a new neighborhood, and a 10-year-old named Laure deliberately presents as a boy named Mikhael to the neighborhood children.

Director:

Céline Sciamma

Writer:

Céline Sciamma (screenplay)

Stars:

Zoé Héran, Malonn Lévana, Jeanne Disson

7 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Zoé Héran	...	Laure / Mickäel
Malonn Lévana	...	Jeanne
Jeanne Disson	...	Lisa
Sophie Cattani	...	La mère
Mathieu Demy	...	La père
Rayan Boubekri	...	Rayan
Yohan Vero	...	Vince
Noah Vero	...	Noah
Cheyenne Lainé	...	Cheyenne
Christel Baras	...	La mère de Lisa
Valérie Roucher	...	La mère de Rayan

Storyline

A family moves into a new neighborhood, and a 10-year-old named Laure deliberately presents as a boy named Mikhael to the neighborhood children. It is heavily implied that Mikhael is a closeted transgender boy. This film follows his experiences with his newfound friends, his potential love interest, Lisa, his younger sister and his parents. It focuses in on the significance of gender identity in social interaction from an early age, the difficulties of being transgender and young, and how Mikhael navigates these in the background of childhood play and love.

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Plot Keywords:

transgender | gender identity | androgyny | transgender child | bathtub | 

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Taglines:

There's a new kid in town.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Twitter

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

20 April 2011 (France)

Also Known As:

Agorokoritso

Filming Locations:

Seine-et-Marne, France

Box Office

Budget:

€1,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,078, 20 November 2011, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$129,834, 22 March 2012

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hold Up Films, Arte France Cinéma, Lilies Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Zoe Hearn had to cut her hair short to get the part.

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Goofs

After the fight over the attack on Jeanne - which Laure wins, we see Laure attentively dressing the graze on Jeanne's knee, and adding a blue-coloured sticking plaster (Band-Aid). In the next scene, when (the un-named) mother finds out that Laure has been passing herself off as a boy, she demands that Laure wear a dress, when they both go to the neighbour to apologise. Laure is sitting on the bed with Jeanne, but all traces of Jeanne's knee injury, and even the sticking plaster, have disappeared.

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Quotes

Lisa: [subtitled version] Are you looking for the others? I noticed you looking at them. They already left. Are you new around here?
Laure: Yeah, we got in yesterday.
Lisa: I'm Lisa. I live here.
[pause]
Lisa: You're shy.
Laure: No, I'm not.
Lisa: Won't you tell me your name?
Laure: Mikael, my name is Mikael.

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Connections

References The Smurfs (1981)

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Soundtracks

Always
Written by Jean-Baptiste de Laubier and Jerôme Echenoz
Published by Because Editions/Copyright Control


& © 2011 Para one & Tacteel

User Reviews

A Different Story about Childhood

The ten year-old Laure (Zoé Héran) and her six-year old sister Jeanne (Malonn Lévana) move to a Parisian suburb near the nature with their parents. Laure befriends the children in the neighborhood but for an unknown reason, she tells that she is a boy, Mickäel. Soon he becomes popular among the new friends and the teenager Lisa (Jeanne Disson) feels attracted by him. When Laure's mother, who is pregnant, discovers that her daughter had lied about her gender to the children, she takes an attitude.

"Tomboy" is a different story of childhood, with a tomboy that lures her new friends and becomes a popular boy. Zoé Héran and Malonn Lévana are amazing and have magnificent performances. Unfortunately the stupid attitude of Lisa destroys the story. Children are mean in this type of situation and a mother should never expose her daughter the way Lisa does. She should seek professional support for Laure and herself to understand whether the attention-seeking of her daughter was just a way to get new friends or whether she is a transgender girl to properly deal with the situation. Depending on the medical orientation, the family should even need to move to another neighborhood to protect her daughter. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Tomboy"