With `Boys Don't Cry,' a new voice in American cinema comes to life. Kimberly Peirce, the Columbia film school graduate who became infatuated with the life of Brandon Teena, brings this true-story of one girl's search for happiness and the American Dream vividly to the screen.
A beautifully composed title sequence shows us how Brandon Teena's friend helps her dress as a guy so she can go to a roller-skating rink and meet girls. It is clear from early on that Brandon is a self-hating lesbian, frustrated by the oppressive environment she lives in, and feels that her only solace is to don the clothing of boys in order to enjoy the women she can only dream of when dressed as a girl.
Brandon clearly has a sexual identity disorder, which is all-so-real when you consider how vividly Peirce illustrates it's cause. There is one point in the film where Brandon's male friend, and future rapist/killer, tells her about his experience in jail. He describes how in jail they would cut themselves with knives and how he was better because he could cut deeper. Essentially, these are men afraid of prison and use self-mutilation as a way of controlling their repressed anger. These are caged animals taking their aggression out on the world-intimidated by anything that is remotely different. The scene is a brilliant set-up to what most audience members know will happen-at least those who know the story.
The story is told quite simply but it's psychological depth is endless. Brandon dresses as a boy and runs away to a small town and their falls in love with Lana (Chloe Sevigny). Lana is genuinely in love with this pretty young boy and Brandon must deal with the fact that eventually Lana will discover her secret. It is a secret that, when revealed, leads to the brutal downfall of Brandon.
The film works because Peirce and her cinematographer compel us with images that brutally compliment the gripping screenplay. Throughout the film there are stunning cutaways of exterior shots shown in fast-motion. This is a world that Brandon can not keep up with. It is not until the end, when Brandon's world is no more, that mother nature returns to it's normal pace.
Peirce so adeptly explores the psychology of `white trash' and their entrapment in middle America that you are amazed that this is a first time director. These are young people working at dead end jobs, living for beers and cigarettes, frustrated because of the limbo that their lives are in. Brandon is the stranger that they all connect with-feeding off her stories of supermodel sisters (a brilliant lie that she tells to explain away her feminine features) and the way `he' just came into their lives, giving them a momentary release from their tragically pathetic lives.
And from all of this comes one of the greatest performances of the year. Hillary Swank, as Brandon Teena, stunningly captures the complexities of a young woman battling with the truth of her self and the lie of covering that self up. Her performance is one for the ages-one of those performances that Oscar so loves to ignore.
Peirce directs her actors like a true master. They inhabit their space and spew their words in ways that make you feel as if you were watching this film in real time. And you would never think that a film like this would come across so horrific from the first frame to the last. If you know what happens to Brandon Teena one can not help but feel this overwhelming sense of fear and dread dripping from each frame. A truly admirable film.
A beautifully composed title sequence shows us how Brandon Teena's friend helps her dress as a guy so she can go to a roller-skating rink and meet girls. It is clear from early on that Brandon is a self-hating lesbian, frustrated by the oppressive environment she lives in, and feels that her only solace is to don the clothing of boys in order to enjoy the women she can only dream of when dressed as a girl.
Brandon clearly has a sexual identity disorder, which is all-so-real when you consider how vividly Peirce illustrates it's cause. There is one point in the film where Brandon's male friend, and future rapist/killer, tells her about his experience in jail. He describes how in jail they would cut themselves with knives and how he was better because he could cut deeper. Essentially, these are men afraid of prison and use self-mutilation as a way of controlling their repressed anger. These are caged animals taking their aggression out on the world-intimidated by anything that is remotely different. The scene is a brilliant set-up to what most audience members know will happen-at least those who know the story.
The story is told quite simply but it's psychological depth is endless. Brandon dresses as a boy and runs away to a small town and their falls in love with Lana (Chloe Sevigny). Lana is genuinely in love with this pretty young boy and Brandon must deal with the fact that eventually Lana will discover her secret. It is a secret that, when revealed, leads to the brutal downfall of Brandon.
The film works because Peirce and her cinematographer compel us with images that brutally compliment the gripping screenplay. Throughout the film there are stunning cutaways of exterior shots shown in fast-motion. This is a world that Brandon can not keep up with. It is not until the end, when Brandon's world is no more, that mother nature returns to it's normal pace.
Peirce so adeptly explores the psychology of `white trash' and their entrapment in middle America that you are amazed that this is a first time director. These are young people working at dead end jobs, living for beers and cigarettes, frustrated because of the limbo that their lives are in. Brandon is the stranger that they all connect with-feeding off her stories of supermodel sisters (a brilliant lie that she tells to explain away her feminine features) and the way `he' just came into their lives, giving them a momentary release from their tragically pathetic lives.
And from all of this comes one of the greatest performances of the year. Hillary Swank, as Brandon Teena, stunningly captures the complexities of a young woman battling with the truth of her self and the lie of covering that self up. Her performance is one for the ages-one of those performances that Oscar so loves to ignore.
Peirce directs her actors like a true master. They inhabit their space and spew their words in ways that make you feel as if you were watching this film in real time. And you would never think that a film like this would come across so horrific from the first frame to the last. If you know what happens to Brandon Teena one can not help but feel this overwhelming sense of fear and dread dripping from each frame. A truly admirable film.