High school
confrontational

>> Teenagers get caught up in romantic troubles in the low-key but profound Et toi t’es sur qui?

by MALCOLM FRASER

Hollywood’s relentless efforts to mythologize high school notwithstanding, teenage relations can be pretty painful to observe onscreen, especially when they’re portrayed accurately enough to bring back memories of adolescence itself. Perhaps that’s why teen films are usually romantic constructs à la John Hughes, morality plays in the after-school special model, or voyeuristic shock pieces (see Thirteen or the oeuvre of Larry Clark). With Et toi t’es sur qui?, French writer-director Lola Doillon has created a profound teen drama, bristling with the hormonal energy that gives adolescence its agonies and ecstasies.

The film begins with pals Élodie (Lucie Desclozeaux) and goth chick Julie (Christa Theret), who make a pact to lose their virginity during the summer break. As the girls enter a summer internship at a food processing plant, we’re introduced to Desclozeaux’s best friend Vincent (Gaël Tavares), who’s just the quiet and sensitive type to be a girl’s platonic best friend, and Nicolas (Nicolas Schweri), a cocky self-styled ladies’ man. The four youths quickly fall into a pattern of lust, manipulation and betrayal worthy of Dangerous Liaisons, or at least the last season of the original Degrassi.

Doillon, in her first feature, either has a knack for casting or the good fortune to stumble upon an excellent group of players, almost all of whom are (or were) non-actors. Tavares is a particularly great discovery, his deep, expressive eyes capturing the range of emotions that surge through all teenagers’ tortured souls.

In a low-key, simple story, the film still manages to touch on a variety of issues: the way a whole generation’s means of communication has been altered by technology, the importance of role-playing in building self-image, and the hypocritical double (or multiple) standards that young girls are expected to meet. (In the first scene, the girls discuss the difficulty of avoiding becoming either a slut or an old maid.)

Viewers whose ears are accustomed to Québécois, or neutral international French, may find themselves struggling to keep up with the kids’ vernacular—rapid-fire, colourful and peppered with verlans, the Pig Latin-like backwards-talking slang that’s all the rage with the Gallic kids these days. But the Cannes-approved drama is worth seeing for its energy and fresh talent.

Et toi t’es sur qui?
opens this Friday, Jan. 18

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