Dominatio Per Malum

Boys Don’t Cry (1999) 7/10

After watching Hilary Swank’s Oscar winning performance in Million Dollar Baby, i knew i had to watch her breakthrough role in 1999’s seminal Boys Don’t Cry. Boys Don’t Cry is a film that Roger Ebert proclaimed as “One of The Best Films of the Year“, and coming from Ebert, argurably one of the best film critics around, i knew that it was exactly the kind of arthouse film that i liked. I was hoping for something that would be as good as 2003’s Monster starring Charlize Theron, a film that similarly banks on the outstanding performance of its lead actress. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite what i had expected, but still an intense journey nevertheless.

It would seem that Hilary Swank is at her most hypnotic when playing characters with masculine traits. Whether as boxer Maggie in Million Dollar Baby or the male dressing Brandon Teena, Swank has that look that has a gruff edge to it. In Boy’s Don’t Cry, Swank is utterly mesmerising as Brandon Teena, the girl who wants to be a boy, who dresses as a boy and who romances other girls. Its not lesbianism. Its not cross dressing. Nor is it transexuality. Brandon calls it a “sexual identity crisis”. Whatever it is, in the backwater Falls City of 1993, deviation from sexual norms was taboo. And in that era, that time, where homophobia was rampant (it still prevails now, unfortunately) society had no place for such people. But Brandon defied conventions, and pursed the life he wanted. And that, in essence is what Boys Don’t Cry is about. A Romeo and Juliet romance that defies the prejudices of society in the pursuit of love.

But Hilary Swank’s Brandon is no paragon of virtue. He engages in the little vices, steals and lies. He forges cheques, and that would later lead to the revelation of his real identity. Brandon craves acceptance and wants to be well liked. But he wants to be accepted as a man, not a woman and not a homosexual. He cuts his hair short and uses all kinds of tatics to fool others, and Swank could seriously pass off as a man. If i didn’t know better i’d have though of him as a man.

But the film has a weakness, a near fatal one. And that is that the first half is dreary. In building up the backstory, and introducing the characters, the pace of the first half is maddeningly slow. Truth be told, i was more or less bored by the first half. I mean, even with Swanks masterful performance, i wasn’t really engrossed by the tale. The acting was good, but i didn’t relate to the characters. In fact, i didn’t even like Swank’s character that much. I almost wanted to give up on the film until it suddenly changed pace.

If the first half of the film was plodding and slow, then the second half was a powerful concoction that is pure cinematic gold. The change in mood and pace comes about after the truth about Brandon is revealed and then, its like the movie has a mind of its own and you are simply drawn in by the masterful performance of the cast.

While Swank is undeniably superb here, as evinced by her 1999 Best Actress Oscar for this film, pipping hot favourite Anette Benning who had shined with her performance in American Beauty, the rest of the cast is likewise solid. In particular, my favourite role has to be that of John played by Peter Sarsgaard, who happens to be one of the most underrated male actors. He turns what could easily have become a one-diemensional character who is homophobic, rash and prone to violence and turns it into his own, showing the flaws and insecurities of his role. Likewise, Chloe Sevigny is also solid as Lana Tisdel, Brandon’s love interest.

But what is most remarkable about this film is that it is based on a true story that took place in 1993. Brandon Teen is a real character, played to uncanny perfection by Ms Swank. Ultimately, inspite of a slow and plodding first half, Boys Don’t Cry is an intense and profoundly moving experience, a film that may well change your perception on people. And it has easily the most catchy and affecting theme song in “The Bluest Eyes in Texas”, which was the actual song that the real Lana Tisdel loved. Powerful, tragic and haunting, you owe it to yourself to watch this, just make sure you have the patience to survive the first half.