''36 Fillette'' (known as ''Virgin'' or ''Junior Size 36'' in English) is a 1988 French

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film directed by

Catherine Breillat Catherine Breillat (; born 13 July 1948) is a French filmmaker, novelist and professor of auteur cinema at the European Graduate School. In the film business for over 40 years, Catherine Breillat chooses to normalize previously taboo subjects i ...

, based on her 1987 novel of the same name. The film stars Delphine Zentout,

Étienne Chicot Étienne Chicot (5 May 1949 – 7 August 2018) was a French actor and composer.Jean-Pierre Léaud Jean-Pierre Léaud, ComM (; born 28 May 1944) is a French actor, known for playing Antoine Doinel in François Truffaut's series of films about that character, beginning with ''The 400 Blows'' (1959). He also worked several times with Jean-Luc G ...

, Berta Domínguez D. and

Jean-François Stévenin Jean-François Stévenin (; 23 April 194427 July 2021) was a French actor and filmmaker. He appeared in 150 films and television shows since 1968. He starred in the film '' Cold Moon'', which was entered into the 1991 Cannes Film Festival. Film ...

. It follows a sexually curious and rebellious 14-year-old (played by then-16-year-old Zentout) who has an emotionally charged and dually manipulative relationship with an aging playboy. Breillat is known for films focusing on sexuality, intimacy, gender conflict and sibling rivalry. Breillat has been the subject of controversy for her explicit depictions of sexuality. Zentout had many topless, nude and explicit scenes in the film.

Plot

Lili, a 14-year-old, is caravan camping with her family in

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Sp ...

. She is self-aware and holds her own in a café conversation with a concert pianist she meets, but she has a wild streak, and she's testing her powers over men, finding that she does not always control her moods or actions, and she's impatient with being a virgin. She sets off with her brother to a disco, latching onto an aging playboy who is himself hot and cold to her. She is ambivalent about losing her virginity that night, willing the next, and determined by the third. The playboy's mix of depression and misogyny ends their unconsummated affair, leaving Lili to hunt elsewhere at the campground. She eventually finds an awkward teen her own age, and they clumsily share their first time together.

Cast

Production

revealed that Delphine Zentout turned 16 just three days before they started shooting the film: "It was a miracle, because when I cast her I had never asked her age, or her birthday. If she had not had her 16th birthday three days before we started production, I would not have been able to show the movie around the world, because in a lot of countries it is against the law to show explicit images of a girl who is not yet 16."

Reception

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website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

the film has a score of 86% based on reviews from 7 critics, with an average rating of 7.1/10.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, and wrote, "Its whole delicate existence depends on the performance by Zentout, a 16-year-old in her acting debut. She gives a brave and convincing performance".

References

External links

* * 1988 films 1988 drama films 1980s coming-of-age drama films 1980s erotic drama films 1980s French-language films Films about virginity Films based on French novels Films directed by Catherine Breillat French coming-of-age drama films French erotic drama films 1980s French films {{1980s-France-film-stub