Girl (film)

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Movie
German title Girl
Original title Girl
Country of production Belgium , Netherlands
original language Belgian Dutch , French
Publishing year 2018
length 109 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Lukas Dhont
script Lukas Dhont
Angelo Tijssens
production Dirk Impens
music Valentin Hadjadj
camera Frank van den Eeden
cut Alain Dessauvage
occupation
  • Victor Polster : Lara
  • Arieh Worthalter : Mathias, Lara’s father
  • Oliver Bodart: Milo, Lara's little brother
  • Katelijne women: Dr. Naert
  • Valentijn Dhaenens: Dr. Pascal
  • Tijmen Govaerts: Lewis
  • Alice de Broqueville: Loïs, Lara's classmate
  • Magali Elali: Christine, new friend of Mathias
  • Alain Honorez: Alain
  • Chris Thys: Hannah
  • Angelo Tijssens: Hendricks
  • Marie-Louise Wilderjickx: Marie-Louise

Girl is a Belgian - Dutch film drama about a transgender - Ballerina of the Flemish director Lukas Dhont from the year 2018 .

Dhonts feature film debut was in the Un Certain Regard -Sektion the International Film Festival of Cannes and as there as best feature film with the Caméra d'Or and the Queer Palm , a price for LGBT , awarded films. The main actor Victor Polster received the Un Certain Regard Jury Award for his acting performance.

Girl was submitted as a Belgian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 2019 Academy Awards , but did not make it onto the shortlist.

The film opened in German cinemas on October 18, 2018.

action

The main character of Girl is the 15-year-old trans girl Lara, who is striving to become a professional ballerina. To get closer to this goal, at the beginning of the film she moved with her father and little brother to a larger Belgian city to attend a renowned ballet school. While Lara finds herself in the new environment and is confronted with transphobic bullying by her classmates, she undergoes hormone replacement treatment in order to have the penis, which is associated with feelings of rejection, removed in two years in a gender reassignment operation . Because of the sexual dysphoria, Lara attaches the penis to her body with adhesive tape, which leads to an infection. As a result, Lara is initially denied sex reassignment surgery. Because Lara is not going through the physical transformation fast enough, she mutilates the penis with scissors, but calls an ambulance as a precaution. The film ends with a scene in which Lara walks down a brightly lit subway tunnel.

production

The Belgian trans woman and dancer Nora Monsecour was Dhont's inspiration for the film. As an 18-year-old film student, Dhont had read a newspaper article about Monsecour in 2009 and wanted to make a documentary about her story . Monsecour declined, however, so Dhont wrote the script with Angelo Tijssens for a fictional film, without mentioning Monsecour, which also complied with their request. While working on the script, Dhont sought advice from Monsecour, other trans people, psychologists and doctors.

The casting of the protagonist Lara turned out to be difficult because both acting talent and advanced dance skills were required. Dhont therefore did not decide at the casting whether Lara should be played by an actor or an actress. After no suitable leading actor could be found in a casting of 500 young people of different sex (also transgender), Dhont initially concentrated on the casting of the dancers who were to appear in the film as ballet students. Dhont discovered Victor Polster, who is a student at the Royal Ballet School in Antwerp , and immediately decided to hire him for the lead role. Polster quickly agreed to take on the role of Lara. Monsecour was involved in the casting of upholstery and also during the shooting on site.

Polster was only 14 years old when Girl was shot. With the consent of his parents, nude scenes could be filmed, but care was taken not to show the face and body in the same shot.

The budget for the film was 1.5 million euros.

reception

International reception

At its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, the audience celebrated Girl with a 15-minute standing ovation . The reviews in both French and English-language media were accordingly largely positive.

In her review for Screendaily, Wendy Ide praises the script, which leaves a lot of things unsaid in a discreet way (" leaves much discretely unsaid "), but which is then conveyed to the audience through the outstanding acting (" superb performances "). For the Variety critic Peter Debruge, Dhont puts the right focus on the fact that the greatest conflicts of transgender young people often take place within themselves (“ focuses on how the greatest conflict for transgender youth can often be internal ”). According to Boyd van Hoeij of the Hollywood Reporter , however, the film would have benefited from showing Lara's soul life more explicitly in a few scenes (“ the film would have benefited from a few additional of these more explicit glimpses of what Lara is dealing with in her head “) As this would have made the dramatic climax more believable.

For Boyd van Hoeij, the many nude photos of Lara are a logical decision, as both her internal psychological separation from her male body and her external physical suffering on the way to becoming a professional ballerina are topics of the film (“ it felt like a logical choice since the movie's subject is so clearly about the inner psychological struggles of Lara's bodily disconnect as well as the constant and very painful external physical struggles of becoming a highly trained dancer at such a young age "). Wendy Ide also sees it as justified that the camera is constantly aimed at the body of the main character Lara, as this is ultimately her main occupation and her battlefield (" her preoccupation and her own personal battleground "). Kimber Myers, on the other hand, acknowledges in the Los Angeles Times that the screenwriters Lukas Dhont and Angelos Tijssens strive for a sensitive portrayal of the main character Lara, but says that they cannot achieve this goal because of the camera work and the climax of the film (“ these efforts are belied by both the film's visuals and is climax ”). The cameraman Frank van den Eeden would obsessively film Lara's body in order to reveal what she is hiding (" lingers over Lara's body, obsessing over what she tries to hide "). The removal of the adhesive tape from the penis would be shown unnecessarily often, which does not appear empathic, but exploitative (" feels exploitative, rather than empathetic "). Overall, Girl would therefore lack the humanity that is necessary for such a story (" lacks the humanity necessary for a story of this nature ").

The critics are unanimous in praising the main actor Victor Polster, who himself went through an extraordinary transformation (" pulls of a remarkable transformation "), in order to finally deliver a fascinating performance of absolute brilliance (" mesmerizing performance ", " absolute brilliance of Victor Polster's performance as Lara "). The embodiment of Lara's father by Arieh Worthalter is also remarkable (“ exceptional ”) and the rest of the cast is solid (“ solid ”).

American critics make several comparisons to Boys don't cry from 1999, in which a transgender character is also embodied by a cisgender actress, although the environment of the main character in Girl is supportive. In addition, Dhont would show the transgender topic with as much compassion as Celine Sciamma in the French film Tomboy and therefore deserve the same positive reception.

German reception

For Frédéric Jaeger from Spiegel , Girl enthuses "with rarely seen sensitivity" and has therefore earned all the awards. Lukas Dhont proves “feeling and awareness” for not exploiting the gender transition along “headline-suitable problem areas”; instead he treats the “big and small questions about acceptance and stereotypes” casually in everyday scenes. From these individual moments emerges a “great story of difficult adolescence, the struggle against adversity and for one's own identity”. Jaeger also positively highlights the camera work by the Dutch cameraman Frank van den Eeden, who follows the main actor with empathy, but also with the closeness necessary for understanding.

Philipp Stadelmeier also gives Lukas Dhont high credit in his review for the Süddeutsche Zeitung for not turning Lara's transition into a “topic that would then be talked about”, but “just film [t]” and so on "Normality of a body that is not heteronormative ," shows. The girl would be in top form in ballet lessons, with the camera literally dancing along. Victor Polster's “brilliant game” is also decisive for the success of the film.

Barbara Schweizerhof certifies Lukas Dhont in ZEIT to have created an “empathetic portrait” that not only describes the hurdles in a gender transition, but also shows “with numerous small scenes” the support and acceptance that Lara experiences from her surroundings. According to Schweizerhof, however, the “weak point of the film” is the “ballet theme”, because Lukas Dhont would lose sight of the “rigidity of body ideas in the dance world” and the “problematic realities of a ballerina career with anorexia and physical wear and tear” by examining Lara's injuries from Pointed dancing and the masking of the penis as a sign of “proud work and work” and “their difficult fate” glorified. The fact that Dhont has just chosen the ballerina as a “high form of femininity” to tell Lara's story would lock the main character “even more […] into a dual gender scheme”. Because the perfection of Lara's femininity performance is moving more and more into focus, one can also see “something ambivalent, almost controlling” in the “homely look of the camera”.

Manuel Brug writes in the WELT that Lukas Dhont “depicts reality clearly, clearly and directly” and thus created a “wonderfully simple, intensely touching film” that unfolds a “pull”. The main actor Victor Polster is "simply fascinating" and moves "with a feminine naturalness that has nothing funky".

For Rüdiger Suchsland from SWR2 , Girl is “a very special story of growing up, of the coming-of-age often described in the cinema , without pathos and stereotypes, but full of strong feelings”. He praised the fact that hormone therapy and sex reassignment "are neither artificially simplified nor [...] heroicized" and that when the girl describes these issues, she "gets completely involved in the perspective and point of view of her main character". The “very explicit pictures” would only serve to make Lara's suffering “physically tangible”. The criticism, however, is the partly one-sided approach, which "inevitably leads to gaps" with regard to Lara's previous history and the absence of her mother.

According to MDR critic Knut Elstermann, Lukas Dhont made a “great, very concentrated and respectful film” with Girl , which turned into an “amazing [m], radical [m] and liberating [m ] End leads ”. Dhont tell "in a sensitive and respectful way" about a transgender girl who is "played wonderfully sensitively" by Victor Polster.

Hartwig Tegeler describes Girl in his review for Deutschlandfunk as a "plea for being different", which Lukas Dhont staged as "wonderful, moving, touching" and which Victor Polster played with "impressive complexity".

Carolin Weidner recognizes in the TAZ that Lukas Dhont succeeds "excellently" in showing the dynamics around the gender transition and in ballet school. The presentation by Victor Polster was also "excellent". But she criticizes the “numerous voyeuristic perspectives” that arise because the camera adopts “Lara's obsession for her genitals” and “is always looking for the telltale bump”. Weidner also reminds of the "at least noteworthy" concerns of transgender activists who feed on the fact that the script was written by two cisgender men and that the trans girl Lara is not played by a transgender actress.

controversy

Girl has received heavy criticism from queer , especially transgender people, who perceive Lara's physical transition to be voyeuristic and unrealistic.

Oliver Whitney, himself a trans man, diagnosed the film in the Hollywood Reporter with a “disturbing fascination with trans bodies ”. The cameraman Frank van den Eeden would film the lower body, especially her crotch, for an uncomfortably long time (“ uncomfortably lingers over Lara's lower body with a persistent focus on her crotch ”). In addition, the nude shots would take up more space in the film than the main plot and character; five scenes in which Lara eyes her naked body in the mirror are exaggerated (“ was one not enough? ”), as are the four scenes in which she tears the tape from her penis. Dhont would not represent the practice known as tucking according to reality, but as a " bloody horror show ". Matthew Rodriguez also criticizes in Into that the film would have been shot from a cisgender perspective, which would be recognizable from the fact that the film is " bloody and obsessed with trans bodies in a way that reminds us that." a cisgender person wrote and directed it "). The recordings of Lara's bare genitals would reveal a “ creepy, voyueristic obsession with Lara's body ”. Instead of showing their internal struggles, the film is so focused on the physical aspects of the transition that it almost seems as if the trans girl is supposed to be humiliated (“ the film almost seems to want to humiliate her ”).

In addition, it is worthy of criticism that a feminine boy has been cast to play Lara, because young trans girls do not look like feminine or androgynous boys because of the effects of the hormone blockers, but rather girls (“ young trans girls on blockers don't look like feminine or androgynous boys - they look like girls "). According to Oliver Whitney, it is also detrimental that the beginning of hormone replacement therapy in Girl coincides with the beginning of bullying by classmates and Lara's deterioration in the toe dance, as it is conveyed that hormone replacement therapy in particular means even more agony for the trans person (" sends the inaccurate message that HRT will cause a trans person more agony ”) instead of alleviating it.

The transgender communities in France and Belgium also criticized the film. According to Londé Ngosso, head of the Belgian organization Genres Pluriels , the film does not show the reality in the country, especially not the support networks for transgender people. Camille Pier, project manager at the Brussels network RainbowHouse , criticizes the fact that the film neglects to show regulatory hurdles and problems in the environment of the transgender person, which can prove to be more stressful than the mere physical transition.

After the film started in German cinemas, there were also voices criticizing the portrayal of the trans girl Lara. Trans man Linus Giese criticized in an interview with Deutschlandfunk that “it is no longer about her soul life, her psyche, how she processes it psychologically, that there are many difficulties”, but that the focus is always on the body. It is also to be criticized that there is “hardly a scene” where “we do not see [Lara's] penis or not her upper body or not her bloody feet”. The “five shots where you see [Lara's] naked genitalia” do not correspond to the portrayal of the cisgender ballerinas in the film and therefore “have something to do with voyeurism”.

Nora Monsecour, the transgender dancer who inspired the film, defended Girl in a guest column in Hollywood Reporter . Although Girl is not representative of the experiences of all trans people, the film tells of experiences she has gone through, especially feelings of rejection towards one's own male body. The film conveys a “message of courage, bravery and passion” (“ it has a message of courage, bravery and passion ”). In addition, working on the film would have helped her to accept herself as transgender and to love herself “without anger or shame” (“ allowed me to accept myself as transgender and finally helped me love myself without anger or shame ”). Critics of the film would prevent a story from being told about a transgender person and silence them and their identity (" preventing another trans story from being shared in the world, and are also attempting to silence me and my trans identity ") . She is offended by reviews that discredit Lara's experience in the film because the director and the leading actor are not transgender. In a subsequent interview with IndieWire , Monsecour defended the self-mutilation scene at the end of the film, which for her was a " metaphor " for suicidal and other dark thoughts that she had herself (" a metaphor for suicidal thoughts or dark thoughts that are taking over, which I experienced myself ").

During a discussion on gender equality at the European Film Awards, director Dhont said that he would feel offended if the film made constant emphasis on the fact that it was cisgender. He warned for inclusion to fight by exclusion applies ( " to fight for inclusion by using exclusion ") and allows only tell that directors and actors stories that match their own identity.

Awards (selection)

Cannes International Film Festival 2018

Lukas Dhont and Victor Polster at the premiere of the film in Paris

Zurich Film Festival 2018

  • Best international feature film

London Film Festival 2018

  • Sutherland Award for the best debut film (Lukas Dhont)

European Film Award 2018

  • Nomination in the Best Film category
  • Nomination in the category Best Actor (Victor Polster)
  • European discovery of the year

Golden Globe Awards 2019

Magritte 2019

  • Best Actor (Victor Polster)
  • Best original script or best adaptation (Lukas Dhont and Angelo Tijssens)
  • Best Supporting Actor (Arieh Worthalter)
  • Best Flemish Film in Co-Production

César 2019

  • Nomination in the category Best Foreign Film

Web links

Commons : Girl  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for girl . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 182067 / V). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ↑ a b GIRL. Retrieved February 20, 2019 .
  3. ^ Rhonda Richford: Cannes: Lukas Dhont's 'Girl' Awarded Queer Palm Prize. In: The Hollywood Reporter. May 18, 2018, accessed February 20, 2019 .
  4. ^ "Girl": Victor Polster awarded in Cannes. In: BRF News. May 18, 2018, accessed on February 20, 2019 (German).
  5. ↑ Andreas Kockartz: No Oscar nomination for the Flemish film "Girl". In: Flanders Info. December 18, 2018, accessed February 20, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Tim Lindemann: Critique of Girl. In: epd film. September 21, 2018, accessed February 20, 2019 .
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g h Wendy Mitchell: Lukas Dhont talks genderless casting for his Cannes transgender film 'Girl'. In: Screen Daily. May 11, 2018, accessed February 20, 2019 .
  8. ↑ a b c d e f Jazz Tangcay: Interview: Lukas Downt Talks About His Casting Choices For Girl. In: Awards Daily. November 17, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2019 (American English).
  9. ↑ a b c Dino-Ray Ramos: Director Lukas Dhont Talks Netflix Drama 'Girl', Opening A Dialogue With Trans Community - Awardsline Screening Series. In: Deadline. November 14, 2018, accessed February 20, 2019 .
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  13. ^ Festival de Cannes: the film "Girl" du Belge Lukas Dhont remporte la Caméra d'Or. In: Le Soir. May 19, 2018, accessed February 24, 2019 (French).
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  25. ↑ a b Manuel Brug: "Girl": Trailer and review of the transgender drama and ballet film . October 20, 2018 ( welt.de [accessed February 24, 2019]).
  26. ^ A b c d Rüdiger Suchsland: Film review: "Girl" by Lukas Dhont: Born in the wrong body. In: SWR October 2 , 2018, accessed on February 24, 2019 .
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  29. ↑ a b c d Carolin Weidner: Lukas Dhont's film "Girl": The camera looks for the bump . In: The daily newspaper: taz . October 17, 2018, ISSN  0931-9085 ( taz.de [accessed February 24, 2019]).
  30. ↑ a b c d e Oliver Whitney: Belgium's Foreign-Language Oscar Submission, 'Girl,' Is a Danger to the Transgender Community (Guest Column). In: The Hollywood Reporter. December 4, 2018, Retrieved February 25, 2019 (American English).
  31. ↑ a b c d Mathew Rodriguez: Netflix's 'Girl' Is Another Example of Trans Trauma Porn and Should Be Avoided At All Costs. In: Into. October 4, 2018, accessed February 25, 2019 .
  32. ^ Marise Ghyselings: Girl, vivement déconseillé aux personnes transgenres. In: Paris Match. October 18, 2018, accessed February 25, 2019 (French).
  33. ↑ Paul Verdeau: "Girl", un film qui donne le blues aux trans. In: rtbf.be. October 17, 2018, accessed February 25, 2019 (French).
  34. ↑ a b c Shanli Anwar: Transboy Linus Giese on the film "Girl" - body fixated and voyeuristic. In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur. October 22, 2018, accessed on February 25, 2019 (German).
  35. ↑ a b c d e f Nora Monsecour: Belgium Oscar Submission 'Girl' Is a "Message of Courage, Bravery And Compassion" (Guest Column). In: The Hollywood Reporter. December 7, 2018, accessed March 4, 2019 .
  36. ↑ Jude Dry: Netflix's 'Girl' Slammed by Trans Critics, but the Film's Subject Says They're Wrong. In: IndieWire. December 19, 2018, accessed March 4, 2019 .
  37. ↑ Steve Brown: Filmmaker Lukas Dhont says being labeled 'cis director' is 'offensive' after facing backlash for trans film 'Girl'. In: Attitude. December 18, 2018, accessed March 5, 2019 .
  38. ↑ Sofia Lotto Persio: Girl director Lukas Dhont says being described as 'cis' is 'offensive'. In: Pink News. December 18, 2018, accessed March 5, 2019 .
  39. ↑ Jennifer Green: How the European Film Industry Can Lead Hollywood Toward Gender Equality. In: The Hollywood Reporter. December 17, 2018, Retrieved March 5, 2019 (American English).
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  42. ↑ a b c d Els Debbaut: Girl wins big at Cannes Film Festival. In: Flanders Today. May 22, 2018, accessed February 22, 2019 .
  43. ↑ Lukas Dhondt's film "Girls" to be seen at the Cannes Film Festival. In: Flanders Info. April 14, 2018, accessed February 22, 2019 .
  44. ↑ Scott Roxborough: Lukas Dhont's transgender drama 'Girl' Wins Zurich Film Festival. In: The Hollywood Reporter. October 7, 2018, accessed February 22, 2019 .
  45. ↑ These are the winners of the 14th Zurich Film Festival. In: Lucerne newspaper. October 6, 2018, accessed February 22, 2019 .
  46. ↑ Andreas Wiseman: 'Joy', 'Girl' & 'What You Gonna Do When The World's On Fire?' Win At BFI London Film Festival. In: Deadline. October 20, 2018, accessed February 22, 2019 .
  47. ^ Katrin Doerksen: Prizes for "Joy" at the BFI London Film Festival. In: cinema time. October 22, 2018, accessed February 22, 2019 .
  48. ↑ Marie Bäumer nominated for European Film Prize . November 10, 2018 ( welt.de [accessed February 22, 2019]).
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  50. ↑ Peter Zander: Award ceremony: Europe in the bones. In: Berliner Morgenpost. December 16, 2018, accessed on February 22, 2019 (German).
  51. ↑ "Cold War" is the big winner of the 31st European Film Awards. In: The press. December 16, 2018, accessed February 22, 2019 .
  52. ↑ Andreas Kockartz: The Flemish film "Girl" by Lukas Dhont has been nominated for a Golden Globe. In: Flanders Info. December 6, 2018, accessed February 22, 2019 .
  53. ↑ Lisa Bradshaw: Flemish film Girl nominated for Golden Globe. In: Flanders Today. December 6, 2018, accessed February 22, 2019 .
  54. ↑ a b c d Lukas Dhont, le réalisateur de "Girl", sacré aux Magritte: "Je suis très fier de notre travail". In: Le Soir. March 2, 2019, accessed February 22, 2019 (French).
  55. ↑ Elsa Keslassy: Cesar Awards: Xavier Legrand's 'Custody' Wins Best Film. In: Variety. February 22, 2019, accessed on February 23, 2019 .