Transfixed (2001/2004) (AKA Gender
Bias, Mauvais genres)
"Gender Bias" is really tough to
watch, especially the first hour or so. It's tough
to watch because we have to witness adorable Robinson
Stevenin (as the transvestite Bo) get gay bashed,
spat upon and have his arm broken. This is all done
because Bo has a crush on the loathsome Johnny, a
self-hating homo who has figured out his sexuality
yet. It's nearly impossible to sit through this.
Johnny, meanwhile, has an older
male friend named Alex and the two of them seem to
have some sort of gigolo service for ageing women
who also like it rough. Meanwhile, the backdrop for
this twisted love obsession the adorable Bo is undergoing
includes the revelation that his father, a doctor,
abused him as a child and is now being prosecuted
for molesting his young male patients. And if that
wasn't bad enough, most of Bo's transgendered friends,
who are also prostitutes, are getting killed by a
serial killer.
Sounds like a wonderful and charming
film doesn't it? And yet, as the film unfolds, once
we don't walk out and swallow all the damage that
is being done to Bo, we become transfixed. The film
doesn't wallow in its trashy elements, but it doesn't
hide them either. The film is bold, edgy, challenging
and often uncomfortable. It's also one of the most
amazing films you will ever see.
Stevenin is simply stunning to look
at. Pale, wan, thin and androgynous, Stevenin's Bo
seems like a young, beautiful, transvestite Audrey
Hepburn. He is simply ravishing as a she. And the
complexity of the character is brought fully into
realization by the talented Stevenin. This is a performance
that should be lauded and awarded. (In fact, Stevenin
has won some awards for his work here). I've never
seen a transvestite (or transgendered) character with
as much intricacy as Bo.
A wonderful and talented cast supports
Stevenin in his work here. Young Stephane Metzger
is the most obvious to note. Not only is he a simply
stunning Adonis to look at but he also amazes us with
his thespian talents. This is an actor that says a
hundred times as much with his eyes as he does with
his mouth.
Metzger's street tough Johnny is
rude, cruel and hurtful to Bo and yet we almost accept
Bo's continual love and lust for him. (The characters
actions become more comprehensible and easily understood
as the film progresses. It is almost too much at first
to acquiesce to the action here and understand it.
One has to be patient and with the cruelty that goes
on early in the film and that is often hard. At first
I hated the film and thought of it as the modern "Cruising"
but my opinion of the film continued to change as
it evolved).
Metzger and Stevenin have a smoldering
chemistry and as the film continues, we delight more
and more in watching their unconventional and evolving
sexual interplay continue. It is these two talented
actor's abilities to make the characters, complex,
severe and incomprehensible at times while still continuing
to draw us into the film that makes the film ultimately
work.
Director Francis Girod, working
from a script he wrote with Phillip Cougrand based
on a Brigitte Aubert novel, creates a dark, complex
and forbidding world for these characters to inhabit.
His scenes often crackle with realism (even if the
blood is a little fake looking at times - thank God,
the film is tough enough to watch). Girod may be working
with a French sensibility, but the film is only the
better for it. (While watching the film, the French
films "Savage
Nights" and "L'Homme
Blesse" both came to mind). This is a twisted
tale, and one that is easy to get lost in, and Girod
does wonderful work here to help us keep up with what's
going on.
Stevenin's transvestite Bo becomes
a more and more wonderful character as each frame
of the film passes in front of the projector's bulb.
As s/he becomes more and more of a detective and undercover
agent in the film, I thought of her more and more
as the kind of wonderfully odd transvestite spy Ed
Wood used to write pulpy, soft porn novels about.
I could easily see Stevenin doing a film with the
same character he creates here but where he played
the her as a spy or an agent or a undercover cop.
La Homme Nikita, perhaps. (I'd be first in line for
that film!)
"Gender Bias" is one of the most
challenging and troublesome films you will ever see.
Its rewards, however, are immense and worthwhile.
And the discovery of Stevenin will make even the most
gay of men, like myself, question his sexuality. I
never thought I could love a girl/boy. Until now.
Notes:
In French with subtitles.
Filmed in Brussels, Belgium and
Paris, France. Set in Brussels. Antwerp is often mentioned.
My geography is so horrible, I don't even know exactly
where these places are in relationship to France.
Released in France in 2001. Picture
This! has picked up rights for distributing the film
in the U.S. and Canada and plan to release it here
in summer 2004.
Viewed on 8/22/03 at the Metropolitan
Theater in Austin as a part of Agliff 2003 (Day 2).
Notes on Agliff 2003 - Day 2
I met up with my friend Johnny Oh!
and sat next to him at the screening and our "festival
friend" Craig came and sat with us. Before the movie
I saw Sandra Martinez, Agliff's Executive Director
and said hello. I also saw Scott Dinger, Agliff's
Artistic Director, who helped me out with a few passes
to films this year. Agliff seems to be going through
a tough time this year. Attendance seemed down on
Thursday's opening and on the film tonight. Still
Agliff could have been much more generous with me,
considering the amount of coverage filethirteen has
provided of the festival since I got here in 1999.
The festival was hoping to utilize
the new Regal Arbor at Great Hills theater for showings
this year but that theater won't be ready until at
least October. The presumed manager of the new Arbor,
Kevin, who ran the old Arbor, was working at the Metropolitan
on Friday night. Agliff thought that they were only
getting 2 small theaters (270 seats) this year but
Regal did indeed come through with a 270 seat and
a 430 seat auditorium.
After the movie we all went outside
and talked and Craig and I got into a deep and intense
conversation about films and Johnny felt ignored and
walked off in a tiff. I talked to Craig a bit more,
said my goodnights to him, and then called Johnny
on his cell. He wasn't mad but he made it pretty clear
to me that he's not interested in Craig and Craig
is sending him signals that he wants Johnny. (I swear
to God this must be when I'm not looking because I
don't see them). Johnny is not even interested in
having him for a friend. I'm sure I won't have to
choose between the two of them because I'm pretty
sure Craig isn't really interested in more than a
"festival friendship" with me. This is sad because
even though I find him adorable, I wouldn't mind just
hanging out with him a little and talking movies and
such. Still, I flirt with him constantly and I'm sure
this is just as annoying to him as it is to Johnny
when Craig flirts with him. Sigh.
After one night my little gay love
triangle is over.
