Boys Don't Cry (1999)
[film only]

I heard so many things about the beauty of this touching film that I was really tempted to watch it, and I did that only recently. It represents the real story of a man who lives in a body of a woman called Teena Brandon. Because Brandon would have wanted people to refer to "her" as a male, I'll do so in this review. Since he gets into so much trouble with the police in his city, he travels to Falls City, Nebraska to start a new life, and he goes by the name Brandon Teena. There, he meets a young woman and they fall in love before she knows anything about his female body, which he hides with bandages or enlarges with a sock in the trousers. Unfortunately, because his lover used to be in love with an ex-convict, Brandon gets into trouble. His true identity is revealed brutally, he gets raped and bruised… and the rest is for you to find out.

To begin with, I can't start telling you how magnificent the performance of Hilary Swank [Brandon Teena] is in this film. I remember that a certain comedian I like used to make jokes about how masculine she looks; I have to admit that her jaws help, but believe me, after watching the film I had to see other "usual" pictures of her to remember how she used to look like as a girl. This is definitely one of the performances that I will never forget.

About the story, it is always important to know how transsexual and transgender women and men suffered, before they become more accepted by the society, simply because they are considered different. I can never understand what they feel myself, but I guess, like in Brandon's case, being imprisoned in the body of what they call the opposite sex and not having the money for a sex change operation sounds suffocating and awful for me. As for why people discriminate against others simply because they have a "different" sexual orientation (Brandon was attacked because he was considered a lesbian)… well, this is beyond me. The very good thing that this movie did, when it was made back in 1999, was introducing the sad story of Brandon to a large number of people who might not be interested in reading the story, but still watch the movie as they watch any other thing. Whether they will enjoy it or not is a completely different story. I still remember, very vividly, to this day a scene from a movie I watched about 8 years ago in which a man, who had a similar story to that of Brandon, shot himself because he could not tolerate his "deviance" anymore.

This movie might be good for those who find it difficult to understand transsexualism to begin with, but what if the spectator does not have such a problem. I'm a heterosexual girl who has always believed in people's right to decide their sex/gender choose their sexual partners in the way they see fit, so what value does this movie have for me? The problem is that this film is not interesting at all; it is well written, well presented, and it tackles an important issue, but it couldn't attract my attention at all. Of course, critics are in love with this film, for I think they studied rather than watched it. For me, sad stories should have the spices that can attract the audience and not just the critics. There's nothing wrong with satisfying the audience and the critics at the same time; someone like Shakespeare did this. I hate completely sad stories; they always defeat the purpose with me and leave me uninterested rather than sympathetic. I'm fully aware that this film is based on a real story, but so was Hamlet.

Having said that, I recommend watching this film, if you haven't already, and if you are interested in the topic it tackles. I'm fully aware that it's a sad, true story, yet I have always believed that a book or a film should always find a way to keep the reader/viewer going on. However, luckily for the creators of this film, not all people agree with me. If you enjoy watching sad stories, this one is definitely for you.

* One last thing: when I watched "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry" I was truly disappointed because the guys didn't kiss. I know what you're thinking, that I wanted that because I have a dirty mind. No… well, a little, but this is not the reason for it. I just always notice how women (actresses, singers, etc..) do not mind kissing other girls, in fact this is what Hilary Swank and her lover, Chloë Sevigny did in this film, and I wanted to know if men are able to do the same in 2007. Anyway, what attracted my attention more than all this is one of the things that Lana, Brandon's lover, tells him when she finds him in women's prison. He lies to her about it and says: "I'm a hermaphrodite… It's a person who has both girl and boy parts." Lana replies: "Look, I don't care if you're half monkey or half ape. I'm gettin' you outta here." I know it's not the most sophisticated reply, but it made me think… is it possible that women are more tolerant than men? I don't have a definite answer in mind; I know stories that support both possible answers of this yes-no question, but I still think it's an interesting one. Thank you for reading!

<<< Price and DVD Info >>>

Price: £4.98 from Amazon.
Actors: Hilary Swank, Chloë Sevigny, Peter Sarsgaard, Brendan Sexton III, Alicia Goranson
Director: Kimberly Peirce
Format: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen
Language English
Subtitles: Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number of discs: 1
Classification: 18
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
DVD Release Date: 4 Mar 2002
Run Time: 118 minutes
ASIN: B00005UWNB

Summary: I respect and believe in what it stands for but I don't like it.