36 Fillette

36 Fillette

As a result of her troubled home, Catherine Breillat’s “36 Fillette” covers some vital days in Lili’s life when she is only 14 but physically mature. On one unfortunate evening while on family vacation at an absurd seaside resort, she persuades her elder brother to take her to a disco and from then on starts seducing men that are older than her.

The initial man to meet her appears as if he were a playboy but is actually an old salesman forever entangled with his past desire for picking up girls using his convertible. He realizes he has more than he can chew after picking up Lily. She was no prey but rather an audacious girl who teased him all night long until he finally surrendered saying that at his old age he could not continue the chase. When I saw him first, I thought I was going to scold this reckless adult who took advantage of this innocent girl; however, by this time into the night, there was actually something comical about his predicament.

And so she moves through it: walking around the dull resort where she awakes (Delphine Zentout) meets a man who they say is famous person in France and truly played by a renowned actor Jean Paul Leaud because a long time ago in Truffaut’s “400 Blows “(1959), he acted out suchlike angry alienated adolescence which encountered their own today. He listens attentively looks at her quizzically before giving some tired advice. Perhaps what he says is right but she does not understand it yet since she is too young.

Another day spent being unhappy with your parents who mostly drink, sleep and fight. She hates herself and thinks being virgin is miserable hence decides to go out looking for trouble unsure of what exactly it means or how much of it she actually wants. Boldly dressed, she leaves in order to hitchhike to town only to meet the drunk, tired playboy (Etienne Chicot) again. In gloomy discos, he leads a night life that is tiring and decides that he cannot touch her since she is too young. However, she then sneers at him with her flamboyant clothes and curvaceous figure before dancing away when he begins to respond.

Finally though not in so many words they become friends because each of them has reached a point where they need anybody.

Initially one would be tempted to accuse the man for taking advantage of an innocent teenager. But this is not what this movie wanted to talk about; it is partially autobiographical as Breillat claims. “36 Fillette” (the size of French bra) represents Lili like perspective where middle aged man is a stage prop; at that time in her life any other man would have served since she was uncertain about the goal wherein she sought him anyway.

We are catching her when she is both extremely unhappy and has just discovered her sexuality and how much men are under her control. She goes ahead to manipulate him with boldness coming from anger and inexperience without minding the risks involved. The film suggests psychological forces at work when a father shows no concern for his daughter but it is mainly an observational film.

It would be wrong to say that the entire film hinges on one scene, yet there is such finger like attention paid to details. They sense perhaps, that however different their lives seem they have this same isolation as each other or even consecration. This very long scene is marvellous, and its existence hangs precariously upon Zentout’s portrayal of a 16-year-old girl making her debut on stage who gives a courageous performance.

The age difference between the two leads was considered controversial in this movie as was the girl’s unapologetic sexual expression albeit naïve. But Breillat chose to make a far more intricate movie than it seems at first sight. This is a kind of situation that should “displease” but since its particularity revolves around two individuals only rather than following set rules, this film drifts away from orderliness into quietness.

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