“Identity is lived and experienced between the ‘real’ the ‘fiction’ and the ‘performance’.”
For me, these couple of scenes relate back to our main quote because the main character in this film is playing with the idea of living out his fiction (being a woman) and making it real. This act of dressing up as a woman for the ball is sort of a performance for him, in a way. This is his way of coming out (to himself) psychically, to his true identity. This is his first time really seeing himself in this way and so this is not only a performance to himself but also to the other people around him. He is experimenting with the idea of how other people would respond to him and how he would truly live if he was Lili and not his other identity. This moment for him is really transformative because this is when he feels most himself, while being someone else. This again relates back to the quote because this is that in between of the real life and the fictional life.
It is also interesting because his real life (to himself) is this woman, Lili. This must make him feel as though his everyday life is a performance because he is not truly who he is. So when Eisnor is given this opportunity to dress us as Lili, he is thrilled because he is given the chance to be whoever he wants. When he is at the ball he is asked by a gentleman “Are you a reporter?”. This question opens up a door for Eisnor because he realizes that if he was Lili, he would be able to do or be whatever he wants. This gives him more encouragement to perform as Lili because he realizes in this moment that he can do whatever he wants. This then also leads to him experimenting with a man at the ball romantically.
