Serious ‘Girl’ Equates Love With Freedom

“The Girl” escorts us down an ancient, narrow Parisian street to a nightclub where a beautiful woman (Claire Keim) sings love songs. She attracts another young woman (Agathe de la Boulaye), whose masculine attire--a black suit and a white shirt open at the collar--sets off her own striking looks. The two women connect and swiftly end up in the singer’s bed in a tasteful suite in an elegant small hotel nearby.

The singer says, “Just for one night,” yet plunges headlong into a passionate affair with the other woman, a painter. The two women seem to live remarkably uncomplicated lives: The singer has affairs with men; the painter begins an affair with another stunner (Sandra N’Kake) who becomes her staunch friend. When the singer says, “Make yourself scarce,” the painter does just that yet senses when she will again be welcomed back with open arms.

Director Sande Zeig, who co-wrote the script with Monique Wittig from Wittig’s original story, establishes the easy, sensual rhythm of the lives of these two women and celebrates the tenderness and passion of their lovemaking. Yet what gives them such pleasure and happiness gradually enrages the proprietor (Cyril Lecomte) of the nightclub. He’s a handsome young man with many women besides the singer to keep him company. It’s doubtful that he loves the singer, but it is clear that he regards her as his property. He also has a brace of strong-arm guys, one in particular (Cyrille Hertel), to see that his wishes are carried out. The lovers, however, are not easily intimidated.

In her feature debut, Zeig, multitalented president of Artistic License Films, a distributor of independent features, displays confidence and style aplenty. This English-language film veers toward the pretentious, particularly in the dialogue, not uncommon among first-time filmmakers as serious as Zeig. (Frankly, the film might have played better in French with English subtitles, although all the actresses are at ease and effective in English). Nonetheless, the grandiose tendencies do not seriously diminish the film’s significant equation of love and freedom. The nightclub proprietor becomes pathetic in the destructive force of his possessiveness.

There’s also a revealing contrast between the singer and the painter. The singer likes to think of herself as an artist, and while she certainly is a competent, personable entertainer, her physical allure is greater than her talent or personality. The painter, who is dedicated in her work, is her own woman, but the singer is beholden to her employer to an extent she chooses not to spell out to her lover. The sad fact is that a gorgeous woman with a statuesque figure encased in sequin gowns and with a flowing mane of hair and an ability to carry a tune is likely to be easy to replace in a city of the size and sophistication of Paris.

* Unrated. Times guidelines: language, adult themes and situations, some nudity.

‘The Girl’

Claire Keim: The Girl

Agathe de la Boulaye: The Painter/Narrator

Cyril Lecomte: The Man

Sandra N’Kake: Bu Save

An Artistic License Films release of a Dolly Hall production in association with Method Films. Director Sande Zeig. Producer Dolly Hall. Executive producers Sue Delisle, Gil Donaldson. Screenplay by Zeig and Monique Wittig; from a story by Wittig. Cinematographer George Lechaptois. Editors Geraldine Peroni, Keiko Deguchi. Music Richard Robbins. Production designer Philippe Renucci. Paintings and drawings by Thierry Tourant. Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes.

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