What a beautiful film!
This movie is definitely one I will recommend if asked. I enjoyed watching the plot unfold and was never bored. The visual experience is comfortable since there are many calm scenes shot in beautiful places and soft light.
Considering the subject of this film I want to point out that it might not be a movie that trans* individuals find themselves relating to a lot, but rather one that is educational for people who wish to get an impression of what changes this kind of realization brings about in a person and their relationships.
The first statement I made because David, as he undergoes his transition to Virginia, faces just enough problems to give outsiders an idea of what it must be like to find ones whole life changed in such a way while also establishing a background for her that means that her transition is mostly the only thing she has to worry about.
She is privileged in many ways and thus never faces the additional problems a lot of trans* individuals do, simply because they have to work and/or have limited funds at their disposal. Virginia is laughed at by a man in public, but other than that does not appear to live in a part of the world where she needs to fear for her safety leaving the house as herself. She is fortunate in that way, too. This is not the norm, and movie-goers should keep that in mind.
It was very good to see that there was no fuss made about the little child the main character has. Her ability to be a parent is not brought in relation with her gender identity.
Trans* individuals hoping to find themselves in Virginia might be disappointed because this movie focuses less on the worldly everyday troubles that tend to dictate a life and much more on Virginia's relationships and how they evolve together with her identity, so many conversations are specific to her situation. Cis individuals will definitely recognize their own reactions in those of Virginias friend Claire, as one tends to have them in the exact same moments as she does throughout the movie.
If by the end of this visually pleasing, beautifully underscored movie one finds oneself ashamed for having sympathized with Claire when she told Virginia that her behaviour was 'ridiculous' and that she needed to 'stop this', then one would be right to feel that way.
This movie is definitely one I will recommend if asked. I enjoyed watching the plot unfold and was never bored. The visual experience is comfortable since there are many calm scenes shot in beautiful places and soft light.
Considering the subject of this film I want to point out that it might not be a movie that trans* individuals find themselves relating to a lot, but rather one that is educational for people who wish to get an impression of what changes this kind of realization brings about in a person and their relationships.
The first statement I made because David, as he undergoes his transition to Virginia, faces just enough problems to give outsiders an idea of what it must be like to find ones whole life changed in such a way while also establishing a background for her that means that her transition is mostly the only thing she has to worry about.
She is privileged in many ways and thus never faces the additional problems a lot of trans* individuals do, simply because they have to work and/or have limited funds at their disposal. Virginia is laughed at by a man in public, but other than that does not appear to live in a part of the world where she needs to fear for her safety leaving the house as herself. She is fortunate in that way, too. This is not the norm, and movie-goers should keep that in mind.
It was very good to see that there was no fuss made about the little child the main character has. Her ability to be a parent is not brought in relation with her gender identity.
Trans* individuals hoping to find themselves in Virginia might be disappointed because this movie focuses less on the worldly everyday troubles that tend to dictate a life and much more on Virginia's relationships and how they evolve together with her identity, so many conversations are specific to her situation. Cis individuals will definitely recognize their own reactions in those of Virginias friend Claire, as one tends to have them in the exact same moments as she does throughout the movie.
If by the end of this visually pleasing, beautifully underscored movie one finds oneself ashamed for having sympathized with Claire when she told Virginia that her behaviour was 'ridiculous' and that she needed to 'stop this', then one would be right to feel that way.