Released 1997
Stars Delphine Zentout, Etienne Chicot, Olivier Parniere, Jean-Pierre Leaud
Directed by Catherine Breillat

Catherine Breillat's "36 Fillette" follows a few crucial days in the life of Lili, a 14-year-old French girl whose body is ripe and whose soul is troubled by an unhappy home life. One night during a miserable family vacation at a tacky resort, she talks her older brother into taking her to a disco and there she begins a series of risky flirtations with an older man.

"36 Fillette" (the title is a French bra size) is a film told from Lili's point of view, and the middle-age man is almost a prop; at this moment in her life, any man would have done, since she is not sure what she's looking for, anyway.

The movie is controversial because of the difference in age between the two lovers, and because of the girl's blatant, if naive, sexuality. But Breillat has made a film far more complex than it might seem. This film depicts the sort of situation one "should" deplore, but the film is so specifically about two particular people that it slips away from convention and just quietly goes its own way.

Summary by Roger Ebert