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  Boys Don't Cry


DOWSE Guide to the Movies
by Tony Lee editor of Pigasus Press

Boys Don't Cry

directed by Kimberly Peirce
118 minutes (18)
aspect ratio: 1.85:1 review by Gary Couzens

In the early 1990s, Teena Brandon (Hilary Swank) cut her hair, bound her breasts and disguised herself as a boy, named Brandon Teena. Finding 'himself' in the dead-end Falls City, Nebraska, Brandon falls in with a crowd of white-trash dropouts including John (Peter Sarsgaard) and Tom (Brendan Sexton III), and teenager Lana (Chloe Sevigny). Brandon and Lana fall in love and start a relationship, but when Brandon's true identity is discovered the consequences are tragic. A true story.
Much has been made of Hilary Swank's performance in the lead role, which rightly won almost every award going, including the Oscar. With her strong jawline, she easily convinces as a boy, though her lack of stubble makes her look younger than the 21 s/he's meant to be. (Her only previous lead was in the title part of The Next Karate Kid, though she made her debut in the film of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.) And even more importantly, she makes us at least partly understand Brandon's dilemma, so gives a performance over and above the technical feat of gender disguise. Chloe Sevigny is just as good in a less showy role. Sarsgaard and Sexton effectively demonstrate how resentment and intolerance can easily explode into violence.
Lana could be seen as a dupe, but it's clear early on that she knows the truth, but wills it otherwise. Gender, the film suggests, is something that can be constructed, or willed. Despite the evidence of her eyes, to Lana, Brandon is a boy and nothing else. Brandon seems to spend much of the time putting himself into danger, but perhaps that is what he sees masculinity as: drinking, getting into fights, chasing girls, recklessness.
Director Kimberly Peirce makes a virtue of an obvious low budget, giving the film a slightly tacky neon-lit look. Time-lapse shots of cars passing are occasionally gimmicky, but add to the sense of characters trapped while the world goes past around them. There are many who will find the film's subject matter uncomfortable to start with, and a couple of scenes in the last half hour are almost too harrowing to watch. But those who can stay the course will be rewarded with a compassionate, fascinating and deeply moving experience.

Gary Couzens

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