Boys Don't Cry
Sad as it is, hatred and intolerance are far more rampant these days than they should be in a so-called "evolved" society. Boys Don't Cry, based on the true story of Brandon Teena, is an unflinching, courageous look at the horrifying effects of intolerance. It's also a touching love story of two adolescents struggling to discover their self-identity. (Related note: Brandon's story is also retold in the award-winning documentary The Brandon Teena Story.)
Hilary Swank stars as Brandon Teena, a teenage girl with some serious sexual identity issues. That's a tough place for anyone of that age to be, especially if you live in the rural Midwest, where reaction to any sort of sexual ambiguity is greeted with less than open minds.
Although Brandon is physically a woman, she longs to be a man, and goes to great lengths to disguise herself as such. She moves to a different town, tapes down her breasts, cuts her hair, etc. What would possess someone to do such a thing? Director Kimberly Peirce's haunting film wisely avoids any specific answers to this question. Instead, it shows Brandon's humanity and suggests that the answer may be a simple, universal one: She wants to be happy.
In her new locale, Brandon befriends a group of fellow teens, including a shy teenage girl named Lana (Chloe Sevigny) and some roughhousing chaps named John (Peter Sarsgaard) and Tom (Brandon Sexton III). Brandon intrigues Lana Ð he's more sensitive than the hyper-macho guys she's known growing up in a small town. Before long, the two form a tight bond that eventually becomes a sexual one. At a certain point Lana becomes aware of Brandon's sexuality, but she accepts it without questions. Again, the film wisely does not belabor the point, and the natural chemistry between the two makes their continued relationship wholly believable.
Unfortunately, Brandon's past catches up with him, and his true sexuality is discovered. To the conservative community, Brandon is a freak of nature. To John and Tom, the realization that their male buddy is a woman is too much for their frail psyches. Their confusion and outrage at Brandon's confused sexual identity causes them to re-assert their manliness in a violent, brutally raw scene.
Much has been made of Swank's physical transformation from 90210 starlet to butch-haired male. It's certainly impressive, but Swank's greatest accomplishment is taking a character that most people probably couldn't identify with and making you empathize with her wholeheartedly. Sevigny is also superb, doing a pitch-perfect job of portraying Brandon's sympathetic lover.
Peirce, who co-wrote the sceenplay with Andy Bienen, has crafted one of the most memorable films of the past decade. She wisely avoids an overly preachy tone, opting instead to focus on the relationship between Brandon and Lana. Ultimately, this makes the harrowing climax even more disturbing. Watch as Peirce interweaves flashbacks of a savagely violent act with Swank's retelling of said act to an indifferent, unsympathetic police officer. This is filmmaking at its most powerful.
Boys Don't Cry was wholly deserving of the accolades bestowed upon it. Swank won the Oscar and Independent Spirit Award for Best Actress, and Sevigny also scored an Independent Spirt Award (for Best Supporting Actress) and was Oscar-nominated. Director Peirce and the film itself were also nominated for a slew of critics' awards.
The final scenes of Boys Don't Cry will shake you to the core. Brutal and uncompromising, this is one of the most devastating films you'll ever see. Ready to be blown away? Then it's time to check out Boys Don't Cry.
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True, there are some enjoyable drinking scenes in this flick, but the painfully sobering finale suggests you keep the brewskies in the fridge.
The relationship at the film's core is touching, but after the disturbing final scenes getting busy will be the last thing on your mind.
Buy this film from Amazon.com
Buy this film from Amazon.com
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