The Girl (2000)

REVIEW
A sophisticated, lust-loving lesbian film that depends very heavily on an immense sense of style and is a tad weak in the plot department. Sande Zeig’s existential, film noir love story is unlike just about any other lesbian feature film ever made before. Set in a timeless, strangely quiet Paris of cool tones and understated jazzy tunes, the story revolves around an artist (and narrator) (Agathe de la Boulaye), who spends her time strolling along the Seine, slapping color on canvas and lounging in clubs. One night she becomes smitten by the nightclub’s new singer, who is simply named the Girl (Claire Keim), and they begin a lusty affair.

Moody, manic and talkative, the Girl insists that each rendezvous in her hotel will be their last, while a boyfriend, the Man (Cyril Lecomte), casts a ominous shadow over their trysts. The artist, however, is undeterred by these threats and even has her own main squeeze to lean on, the liberated Bu Save (Sandra N’Kake). Intrigued by, but not jealous of, her girlfriend’s new affair, Bu Save quips “Violent pleasures lead to violent ends;” a foreshadow it proves to be when the Girl goes completely bipolar, the Man’s thug posse joins the party, and weapons enter the picture. The Girl is stylized with a capital “S,” and mood, eroticism and intimacy envelop the film.