The theories about sexuality and trauma artfully advanced in this previously unreleased 1975 debut of director Catherine Breillat (Romance, Fat Girl) are more nuanced and intuitive than those of most schools of psychology.
Breillat has long been fascinated with the idea that women are not allowed to go through puberty in private but instead seem to be on display for all to watch, a situation that has no parallel with boys. A Real Young Girl seems acutely aware of this paradox.
Neither cheerfully naughty nor suffused with gauzy prurience, it evokes a time of turbulent (and often ugly) emotions with disquieting intensity.
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The delayed release of this 1975 drama provides an interesting view of her (Breillat) early development as a world-class filmmaker.
40
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
A philosophical gross-out comedy rudely presented from the perspective of a sullen, sexually curious 14-year-old.
38
New York PostJonathan Foreman
New York PostJonathan Foreman
A test of endurance, and not just because you need a rather stronger word than "explicit" to describe this long-unreleased, self-consciously provocative film.