The ending of The Balconettes is a reminder that the only thing women truly crave is freedom. This film uses the potent power of grotesque imagery to make us feel repulsed by what's happening on screen, while still wanting to know how things end. The film opens with a man telling his wife to stop being dramatic during a heat wave in Marseille, France. Denise then "throws a tantrum," smacks the man's head, and suffocates him by sitting on his face (woo!). But soon after, the film begins to show you a beautiful, picturesque French street with pretty, colorful balconies and beautiful women.
The film's protagonists are three dramatically different protagonists who are also best friends. This is the first thing that struck me as most realistic about the film: women don't run in cliques; they can be friends even if they're as different as the sun and the moon. The Balconettes begins almost as if it's a male fantasy; There's nudity, sex, and lots of attractive women, but you soon realize this is just to show us the vast difference between how the world sees women and how women see the world. At first, the film has an almost voyeuristic feel, but it soon becomes physical, making it more tense as we go on.
Director: Noémie Merlant
Writers: Noémie Merlant, Céline Sciamma, Pauline Munier
Stars: Souheila Yacoub, Sanda Codreanu, Noémie Merlant
Now, we must remember that Nicole is a writer and also the unreliable narrator of this film. Sure, we get a glimpse of Elise and Ruby's points of view, but the film begins with Nicole seeing Magnani, and the story progresses from there. This significantly changes our perspective, depending on what we want to believe. I have two theories: either this is all part of Nicole's story and none of it actually happens, or Ruby tells her friends what Magnani tried to do, and Nicole then takes advantage of her friend's trauma.
Anyway, the three women end up at the home of the famous photographer Magnani, because he invites them from the balconies after getting Ruby's number. While it's true that Elise accidentally crashed her car and has to pay him, they interact with him, but the girls know that Nicole is already in love with him. If we consider the first theory, Magnani might not exist, or he could be a stranger on the balcony in front of her, but he represents all men. In general, he represents all types of men in society, whether it's someone really handsome, whom you fall in love with with just a glance, a man you give your number to on the street, or the man who is kind at first, but ready to exploit you the next moment. He is all men, and he is just one man.
If we go by the second theory, Magnani does invite the women to his house, and Nicole and Elise have to leave because the latter feels ill and the pressure has gotten to her. Nicole has to take Elise home because she falls unconscious to the ground, but Ruby has already agreed to do a photoshoot, so she decides to stay. Obviously, this man isn't going to try to hurt her, right? False, because if a man notices that a woman is free and doesn't mind "exposing herself," then she's obviously willing to have sex with anyone. Besides, she was asking for it because she was dancing around the house and told him she works as a camgirl, which means she'll obviously go along with whatever he tries to do to her. Ultimately, whether he's real or not, he's a jerk, and the women were right to get rid of him.
There is such a thing as female desire and autonomy, something men often forget when they get married. "If I want to do it, I can't say no." This kind of mentality plagues so many marriages because it's an institution that's supposed to promote the idea that women exist to be controlled. Yes, the film is satirical and, through its dark humor, can be provocative, but above all, it represents the truth with a touch of strangeness. From the beginning of the film, Elise seems to suffer from claustrophobia or some kind of anxiety disorder. She has difficulty breathing, faints frequently, and feels anxious about calls from her husband, Paul. This is a clear sign that Paul is the cause of her symptoms, and she feels all of this not just because of the heat outside, but because he has been forcing her to do things she doesn't want to do, gaslighting her.
Elise finds out she's pregnant by fainting in the middle of the street and falling flat on her face. She finds out in a scene that feels more like a documentary than a film. It's awkward because everything related to women, especially in French cinema, is always romanticized and presented in a rosy light. But this film turns that on its head and shows us scenarios that, if filmed from the male perspective, would have been sensual rather than agonizing. Right after Elise finds out she's pregnant, she meets an excitable Paul. He wastes no time trying to sleep with her, even though she says she's been feeling bad and uncomfortable for a long time. Then he starts sulking like a little boy (there was also another scene, which I can't mention here for obvious reasons. Alexa, play Sabrina Carpenter's "Manchild"), and Elise inadvertently feels guilty, forcing herself to do something she doesn't want to do. Instead of being understanding, Paul, the misogynistic husband that he is, basically forces her to have sex and ultimately leaves her completely disgusted. She leaves him immediately and never returns. She also decides to get rid of the child, considering her career and future. After all, it's her body, her decision.
When Paul chases her and the girls as they're about to board the boat, the guy on the beach asks him why he's being so coercive with Elise, but as soon as Paul tells him she's his wife, the guy changes his attitude and tells Paul to chase her and jump into the ocean, even though she doesn't want him to. This shows how even "good" men view marriage as a property contract; Paul can claim Elise only for that ring on her finger. Luckily, she doesn't reach him, and I wonder if she simply drowned in the ocean, because in this story, that's the fate of an abuser, in this movie.
Magnani presumably dies when Ruby pushes him from the mezzanine while trying to force himself on her. We can imagine he died instantly, but the girls find out everything the next morning. Nicole realizes the mistake she made by leaving her friend there alone with an unknown man. But then they hatch a plan to get rid of him for good. The girls stuff the guy's body into a freezer, bring it to their house in broad daylight, even with the help of a police officer, and then dismember him and throw him into the ocean. As they throw the bags into the ocean, they see two women on another boat doing the same thing. There's a sense of solidarity, but there's a hitch: Nicole has been seeing his ghost, among the ghosts of all the men who have done wrong. The first sighting is when Denise's husband knocks on the girls' door looking for her. We know for sure he's dead. The women dismembering Magnani's body seem almost in a state of pleasure, for by this act they release all their trauma. In doing so, they free themselves; They release all the violence they carry inside. They are no longer afraid; they will simply do whatever suits them.
Nicole's love story begins on the other side of a balcony, but she knows nothing about this man, except that he looks fantastic. She longs for a loving connection because she is a romantic. Her job literally consists of writing love stories, and she plans to write a romance novel with Magnani in mind. But that's probably why she's the one who sees the ghosts of all the men, because despite not having suffered any abuse, she can sense it through the other girls. She's the most cautious; the most worried, but she's also the dreamer of them all. Nicole is happy to love from a distance, not because she isn't eager to be with a man, but because she already senses it won't turn out the way she expects.
As the storyteller and writer of the group, Nicole sees the ghosts of all the men who assaulted the women. Many men end up at Magnani's house when Nicole goes there to understand what's happening. She explains that they are dead because they did something wrong, but they are in denial. The film is a feminist take on male denial of sexual coercion and aggression. At first, Magnani refuses to admit he did anything wrong, specifically because Ruby was exciting and sparked his interest. However, that's not the case; he's simply radical in his acceptance of his body. But after his body is dismembered and dumped in the ocean, Nicole returns and still sees him. Then she asks him to admit what he did. First, he tells her he's scared, but wants to leave now, so he admits to raping Ruby. And just like that, he disappears. I suppose Nicole wanted closure, especially since she was the one who liked the boy. There's a lot of guilt, and the ghosts could have been a manifestation of it.
Being a camgirl is hard work, and Ruby has to quiet whatever's going on in her head to basically become a canvas for men to paint their desires. She has to be whatever they need, even if it's just being a makeshift therapist, a role she plays for one of her clients because, of course, he thinks this kind of experience will be enough to make him feel better instead of going to therapy, because that wouldn't be manly enough. But when the tables turn and she's actually recovering from the trauma of what happened, she seems too sad to be sexy.
Her viewership dwindles, and none of her "fans" bother with her anymore, to the point that when she goes online and confesses in detail how she killed Magnani, there are literally no consequences. The only people who listen are her best friends, who show up to reassure her that the world hasn't ended, even though it may seem that way. I think Ruby feels at her best when she's making an effort to explain to women what pleasure is in the middle of the hardware store (ironic) to the clerk, who insults her for no reason. She fights the fire with ice, and that locks everyone in the room, including the clerk. She lectures them about their own "experience," which really feels like a slap in the face. I can't say Ruby is entirely fine, but she's definitely better off than in those photos Magnani took of her. With some problems in life, the phrase "out of sight, out of mind" holds true.
In the finale of The Balconettes, after the bodies are dumped in the ocean, a storm comes, and then it rains. For the first time, the women feel truly free. There are no men in the streets, and hiding their gaze is a forgotten memory. We see the trio marching down the street, unmolested by men and unburdened by guilt. They are dressed for the party, and the shirt Elise is wearing evokes the famous painting from the French Revolution, "Liberty Leading the People" (it also looked that way in the scene with Pablo, but I wonder if that was just a coincidence). Perhaps they now embody that revolutionary spirit of independence and sovereignty, at least of their bodies. In the end, it's impossible to say how much of this story is real or not. Whether it happened only in Nicole's book or in their heads because of the heat, it's a reflection of the fear women have to live with.
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