Girl movie storyline. Lara (Polster) lives with her father and little brother. The family has moved to the city so Lara can attend an elite ballet school. Simultaneously, she is in the beginning stages of gender transition, with hormone therapy, doctor consultations, etc.
Her father is supportive of her, but is worried about her moodiness and her fraught relationship with her changing body. Lara has a lot of responsibility in the household, is more like a wife than a daughter, cooking, taking care of her dad and younger brother (who slips up occasionally, referring to Lara as “Victor,” her old name).
The ballet classes are the best parts of “Girl,” with Frank van den Eeden’s cinematography tossing us into the midst of the classes, giving a visceral sense of the experience—the sounds of feet landing on wooden floors, the looks of concentration, the emotional pressure and competition, everyone keeping an eye on everyone else, as well as an overall sense of the overwhelming difficulty of ballet. To be even moderately “good” requires single-minded focus from the earliest age.
Lara’s challenges are different from her classmates. She is enrolled in this new school as a female, a controversial decision for her fellow classmates. Lara must devote herself to “catching up” with the other girls, all of whom have been training their feet for dancing en pointe since they were children. Lara has not trained that way, and she works hard with a private teacher, bending and warping her bloody feet into shape. All of this is really interesting!
Girl is a 2018 drama film directed by Lukas Dhont, in his feature debut. It was written by Dhont and Angelo Tijssens and stars Victor Polster, in his acting debut, as a trans girl who pursues a career as a ballerina. Supporting cast are Arieh Worthalter, Olivar Bodart, Alice de Broqueville, Katelijne Damen, Valentijn Dhaenens, Tijmen Govaerts, Angelo Tijssens, Alain Honorez and Virginia Hendricksen.
The film screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Caméra d’Or award, for best first feature film, as well as the Queer Palm, and Polster won the Un Certain Regard Jury Award for Best Performance. It was selected as the Belgian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards, although it did not make the December shortlist. It received nine nominations at the 9th Magritte Awards and won four, including Best Screenplay and Best Actor for Polster.
Girl was inspired by Nora Monsecour, a trans female dancer from Belgium, whom Dhont met when he was 18 and she was 15. While initially praised by critics, the film was criticised by some trans and queer writers for its depiction of gender dysphoria and self-harm. Concern was also raised about the lead actor and director both being cisgender. Monsecour, who collaborated with Dhont and Tijssens on the film, has defended the film in response.
Girl (2018)
Directed by: Lukas Dhont
Starring: Victor Polster, Arieh Worthalter, Olivar Bodart, Alice de Broqueville, Katelijne Damen, Valentijn Dhaenens, Tijmen Govaerts, Angelo Tijssens, Alain Honorez, Virginia Hendricksen
Screenplay by: Lukas Dhont, Angelo Tijssens
Cinematography by: Frank van den Eeden
Film Editing by: Alain Dessauvage
Costume Design by: Catherine Van Bree
Art Direction by: Philippe Bertin
Music by: Valentin Hadjadj
MPAA Rating: R for some sexual content, graphic nudity and brief disturbing content.
Distributed by: Lumière (Belgium), Cinemien (Netherlands<)
Release Date: May 12, 2018 (Cannes), October 9, 2018 (Belgium), November 1, 2018 (Netherlands)
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