Girl

راقصة مراهقة واعدة تلتحق بمدرسة باليه مرموقة بينما تعاني من اضطراب الهوية الجنسية. لاتعليق. الفلم ممل جداً..

I'm not even close to being a liberal and this is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. It's about being a human being. The father's love is breathtaking.

First things first: I really enjoyed the movie. Do I think its great? No. But I actually thought the ongoing ballet metaphor (and all the discipline and equilibrium that is involved in classical training) was powerful in showing the development of an "unbalanced" psyche that is trying desperately to cling on to whatever "normal" it can construct. Although certainly repetitive I thought it was inspired,, rather than boring. I also appreciated the non-preachy nature of most of the film, thus I rated it how I rated it. Having now read some of the reviews, I do understand possible objections to the depiction of the characters transition, and how it is shown. But, as in other instances with many other films for many different reasons, I don't know enough to judge. I will be more aware in the future, so for me both film and reviews were very useful.

'Girl' was a sensation in Cannes and received rave reviews in the Flemish press. This film is about a teenage girl who wants to be a ballet dancer, but is born with the body of a boy. It is based on a real life story about a transgender ballet dancer, who has publicly endorsed the film. The film shows the anguish the girl feels about being stuck in the wrong body. She almost can't wait to get female curves. Although she looks very feminine and has the support of everyone around her, the whole process causes severe emotional problems. Moreover, her ballet classes are extremely hard and she isn't exactly an excellent pupil. The film succeeds in showing what a girl like her has to go through. But nevertheless, I was a bit dissapointed after having seen the film. Apart from the transgender theme, there is not much moving the story forward from a dramatic point of view. A lot of scenes show the ballet classes, and after a while they don't offer anything new to the story. The same goes for the conversations between the girl and the medical team. The doctors encourage her to be patient, she reacts by not saying much in reply. In order to add any dramatic evolution into the screenplay, there is a very shocking incident at the very end. But to me, this felt forced, out of place and overdone. (This scene is, by the way, not based on a real life event). The lead actor, Victor Polster, is in a way perfect for the role because he has the right androgyn looks. He is also convincing as a shy teenager, not feeling comfortable with a lot of things in life. But on the other hand I found his acting a bit restrained and one-dimensional, he showed little emotion. The film received criticism for being too obsessed with the physical aspects of being a transgender, and not enough with the emotional side of it. I think this is beside the point, because the only question that really should matter is: is this a good film? My answer to that question is: yes, but not as good as the hype around it makes us believe.