Une vraie jeune fille

A Real Young Girl (1976)

*** (out of 4)

Fourteen year old Alice (Charlotte Alexandra) is on summer vacation when she starts to experiment with her sexuality. Most of this has her doing things to herself but soon she starts to lust after an older guy. This was made in 1975 but the producer's were so shocked that they kept it on the shelf until 2001, after director Catherine Breillat's Fat Girl became such a hit. I enjoyed Fat Girl a lot more but this film here was pretty good, although the strong sexual content and nudity will certainly make most shy away from it. The way the director explores women's sexuality is brave to say the least.

The first film from Catherine Breillat, the director of "Romance" ('99), that had, upon it's completion in 1975, caused a ratings scandal in France and, beyond being censored, was banned outright. Tellingly, this year (2000) it finally arrived, with little fanfare, on a screen in Paris as, literally across the street at the MK2 Odeon, another controversial film "Baise-Moi" (2000) was causing riots that led to the film being pulled from cinemas.

"Une Vraie Jeune Fille" showcases all of the obsessions that mark Breillat's work through to "Romance" and in a way it is almost more interesting to see the film in retrospect, in light of the films that she made after it, as the lietmotifs present in all were not only prefigured in the first film, but this first film also comments on them.

A girl returns to her parents house from boarding school for the summer. The situation is stifiling and her father's incestuous desires are more than just suggested, though the girl does little to disuade them. She becomes obsessed with a blue collar employee of her father's and his indifference toward her only increases his presence in her numerous sexual fantasies.

The film is visceral and, while the camera is often highly subjective, it maintains, via a cool facade deliberately imitating that of 70's soft porn, that lends it a level of objectivity often entirely absent in American cinema (This film will, incidentally, never reach American screens).

In the same way that "Romance" operates, this film, while exploring detailed fantasies, uses its objectivity to resist any psychoanalyzation of its protagonist. It presents only the events, real events merge with fantasy to lend the pornographic journey/discovery a somewhat hallucinatory aspect

Breillat has found a niche as a filmmaker her films are cool to the touch without being deconstructive, placing her somwhere between Godard and pornography and as a result her films lack a certain element of humanity that prevent them from transcending this niche.

This film is rather difficult to review because it doesn't really have a plot to speak of, and it's clear that director Catherine Breillat was more keen on focusing on the art elements and detailing the sexual developments of a young girl than telling a story. This is the first film I've seen from Catherine Breillat, but given what I've read about her; it would seem that she enjoys directing films that focus on sexuality, and that would seem to be the case if this film is anything to go by. A Real Young Girl focuses on Alice Bonnard, a 'well developed' teenager who attends a boarding school and is spending the summer at her parents' house. She enjoys experimenting, and has a particular fascination with fluids, as she experiments with all sorts including urine and ear wax, as well as egg yolk and tanning cream. She becomes fixated on a man employed by her father, as well as a couple of other local men and her father, and the film basically follows her summer as things happen to her parents and she develops sexually.

Unlike most exploitation films, this one takes place from the woman's point of view, although the idea that all men are sex-obsessed perverts certainly shines through, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Catherine Breillat is a devout feminist, as there isn't one single decent male character in the whole film. The film rests a lot on its star Charlotte Alexandra, and she doesn't disappoint. Her performance is thoroughly realistic, and she also looks rather tasty, which is sure to delight the male viewers. I have to admit that I was expecting to be shocked going into the film, and while A Real Young Girl is liable to offend less well versed viewers; it would seem I've seen too much of this stuff as nothing in the film seemed too over the top to me. Catherine Breillat clearly isn't afraid to shock the viewers, however, as the film features plenty of nudity and other perverse scenes. The film features no suspense and the plot really just plods along, but it's well paced and while you know that the ending isn't going to provide much intrigue, it doesn't matter as anyone looking for a sexually charged film is likely to be satisfied.

Very internalized... ...like the subject matter.

Interesting topic; possibly even unique. But one portrayed in a meandering, long, and drawn-out manner that highlights the problem of French cinema- -being that most French films wouldn't pan out and be fully fleshed if released as two-and-a-half-minute pop videos.

Objectivity is something rarely seen in films nowadays; unfortunately, rarely seen anywhere in the media nowadays. But I'm not sure if this is an ethos that should be applied to film, because an engaging movie it does not make.

This is a type of film where reading the description of the movie is more thought-provoking and interesting than actually having to sit through it. To sum up, the film should have been titled "Une Vraire Vagin Pourri".

This is Catherine Breillat's directorial debut. She also wrote the screenplay from her novel published the year before.

One may be initially confused about the fact that it was made in 1976, but not released until over 20 years later. No, it is not a video nasty, but it was banned in France and only when films like Salo or Boise Moi got released, were we able to see this film.

Breillat is not for everybody. The sex in her films is in-your-face. You have to look at them with an open mind. They have an artistic value and should be seen for that.

The film, about a 14-year-old's self discovery stars voluptuous Charlotte Alexandra, who would later appear in Emmanuelle 3. She explores her body with the boredom and recklessness of a teen, and wonders about the studs that she comes into contact with. She fantasizes at times, even about her own father. It was just too frank for the censors at the time.

This is not for the trench-coat crowd, as there is no sex, although her father (Bruno Balp) sure acts as if he would be willing. His smiles and touches are most unfatherly.

The ending was both funny and sad.