Film Review: 17 Filles

by Ariana Burrell

"Nobody can stop a girl who dreams"

17 Filles (17 Girls) is a French film based off of the pregnancy scandal in Gloucester, Massachusettes. In 2008, 18 students became pregnant at one school in the same school year creating a media frenzy.  17 FIlles is the French interpretation of the American scandal.  

17 Filles was released in 2011 at the Cannes Film Festival.  It is the first feature film by sisters Delphine and Muriel Coulin.  The film opens with Camille, the group leader, accidentally getting pregnant at 16.  She decides to keep the baby as a way of taking control of her life and suggests her friends do the same.  Just like Camille, her friends want to have more control over their lives and they think this is the way to achieve that.  This idea permeates the school, sending the town into chaos. 

The film is very quiet and ethereal with the story moving forward without much dialogue.  There was something mysterious and dream like about it.  Tonally it reminded me of The Virgin Suicides directed by Sophia Coppola because the audience was always watching from afar trying to understand this situation.  Like The Virgin Suicides, the audience never receives any answers but is left wondering and questioning everything.  Parental reactions are not shown until the very end of the film, creating this feeling of intimacy in this very insular world. The adults feel helpless and cannot offer any answers or solutions to stopping the pregnancies.   

I did find the constantly shifting point of view hard to follow because many of the girls physically looked similar and had the same hair color.  I kept confusing many of them.  But I always recognized Camille, the pact leader.  Additionally, I would have liked more answers.  This felt like an expose of a situation without offering any new insight or solutions to the problems.  Because of the mystery surrounding this real life situation, I would love to known the aftermath of all of this.  Were the girls happy with their decision once the babies arrived? Did it live up to their expectations? Do they regret their decision? Were they able to stay in school?