Review by
Benjamin Poole
Directed by: Shuchi Talati
Starring: Preeti Panigrahi, Mani Kusruti, Kesav Binoy Kiron
The most important wisdom which you could ever impart to a schoolkid is
that this ordeal they're forced to undergo, these termly circumstances
they're enduring, it's all finite. That mandatory high school attendance
(I'm not counting primary school with its gambol of crayons and story
time) is a mere five years of their life; just 6% of an existence. Before
you know it, the tightly tribal culture, the
bullying, the enshrined
gender bias
which constitute the day to day encounters of a high school attender will
be over soon, and it does get better (usually...). Problem is that such
counselling is impossible for those in dire situ to appreciate; it’s like
a fish being asked to comprehend fresh air outside and beyond the stagnant
pond. The title of Shuchi Talati's unflinching portrayal of
boarding school survival is a tacit acknowledgement of the reductive
attitudes towards young people, and the social boxes which they are put
into: Girls Will Be Girls, and they better conform to this limited expectation.
Talati's film opens with a scene promising some sort of progress, with
teen Mira (Preeti Panigrahi, excellent) becoming the first ever
female prefect of a co-ed Himalayan private school. This is a role of some
distinction, as it involves setting and enforcing a standard of behaviour
for her peers. Prim and proper, intelligent and ambitious; the position
seems made for the mature Mira... until she spots handsome newcomer Sri
(Kesav Binoy Kiron) amongst the strictly assembled pupils. In the
flush of puberty, it's a case of infatuation on sight and a perfectly
natural occurrence. Except in this exacting scholastic climate even puppy
love is a little too hot, and threatens not only Mira's promotion but her
reputation, too.
Historically, the school was single sex, and the ramifications of this
gender apartheid still linger. Even Miri's prefect role is indicative of
the divisions the school inculcates: she's a proper little grass at the
start of the story, having a go at the length of girls' school socks, etc
(the imbalanced examination of
girls
and what they
wear
is an abiding
inequity
irl). Frankly, she could do with a bit of adventure, and it turns out that
Sri is a true charmer. Their relationship develops with legerity, as teen
romance always does and should. In an early dreamy sequence, the budding
couple initially speak over Sri's telescope at night: literal star-crossed
lovers.
What ensues is a coming-of-age examination of Mira's sexuality, with the
tightly wound prefect discovering such adolescent rites as kissing (in the
shower she practises on her hand), masturbation and, eventually, the
fumbles of sexual union. Resolutely, Talati's focus is on Mira's
self-development and she-bopping, and the inevitable sex with Sri is
depicted as a hasty anti-climax. As (noted cigarette advocate) Joe Jackson
once advocated, it's different for girls. The measure of scrutiny afforded
to Sri by the school isn't commensurate to that which Miri is subjected,
for one thing. Furthermore, the faculty don't seem all that bothered when
the boys take upskirt photos of female pupils and pass them around. Boys
will be boys, innit. In fact, the school board seem far more interested in
rumours of a certain female pupil jettisoning their virginity, which is
apparently an offence which girls can be expelled for...
Fortunately for Miri, she enjoys another, different source of love in her
life via her mother Anila (Kani Kusruti), who recognises the
relationship and understands that such affiliations are an expected aspect
of growing up. Anila sanctions the union and even lies to the school to
cover for Miri. However, Talati, who has represented the evolving
sexuality of a young teen with steady and non-exploitative focus, doesn't
offer here a simple binary opposition to the draconian educational office.
There is a queasy hint that Sri is attracted to Anila too, and that
furthermore she low-key enjoys the attention (Miri's father works away and
the film implies that the house is to all intents and purpose a single
parent home). It's a surprising ripple in this consistently unpredictable
film, which expounds that while institutions may impose reductive roles
upon men, women, boys and girls, the reality is not as straightforward.
Certainly, Sri's father is taken more seriously than Miri's mother by the
school body, and there are no prizes for guessing which child has the
happiest ending. Regarding that proposed advice to offer girls and boys of
Miri's age, Girls Will Be Girls intimates a crucial suffix:
outside of this stifling environment it might get better, but it won't
completely change.
Girls Will Be Girls is in UK/ROI
cinemas from September 20th.
