Sunday, December 26, 2010
FAMILY STORY
Today's film was the documentary by Kimberly Reed,
A transgendered woman returns to her home town in Montana for a class reunion and takes a camera along.
Presumably, the intent, at the beginning, was to film the courageous act of return and to make a document of the fallout.
I have seen docs like this before. I am always wary when the resultant film is pat and leads to the objective stated. Life is messier than that.
Such is the case with this film. The results are messy. And anything but expected.
As it turns out, the return to the city and the class reunion is a yawn. Everyone there is happy to see Kimberly Reed and she is accepted quickly and with apparent ease.
I am suspicious of this but that is the superficial result.
End of project, eh? No drama. No flying drinks. No walkaways. No scenes.
What Reed does not count on is the drama inherent in her relationship with her brain damaged (auto accident) adopted brother who she was peers with growing up.
Why she thought this would be smooth is hard to tell but with this meeting, the film shifts rather abruptly to the story about her brother and his current state.
Later in the film the other younger brother, who is gay, comes on the scene.
The camera keeps rolling. And rolling.
Of course, much of what we see and understand of what happens comes from the editing.
It is thrilling enough to transcend any original intention to see others' reaction to her gender change.
Then, another revelation. And another.
This ends up being an astonishing film.
If Reed was trying to put the story of her big life change into perspective then this really happens. The change of focus in the film helps reveal to her and to us the inconsequential nature of her life decision in the scheme of things.
This helps her in what is obviously her biggest problem, self acceptance.
It is a pretty good film and except for some reservations I have about invading the sick brother's privacy, quite engaging.
i will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
