By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Lucia Puenzo
Starring: Carolina Pelleritti | Germán Palacios | Inés Efron | Martín Piroyansky | Ricardo Darín | Valeria Bertuccelli
Country: argentina, france, spain
Year: 2008
Running time: 86
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0995829/
Bruce says: “In film, difficult subject matter is always a favorite domain of mine providing it is in good hands. With XXY, director Lucia Puenzo – daughter of Luis Puenxo whose THE OFFICIAL STORY is perhaps the most famous film to emerge from Argentina – has created a film of incredible sensitivity and depth. The film is based on her husband’s short story ‘Cinismo’ about Alex, a 15 year old hermaphrodite. Puenzo wrote the screenplay herself and significantly expanded the short story to include relationships other than the two teenagers who are central to the original story.
“Until about five years ago infant ‘normalization surgery’ was the popular mode of dealing with hermaphrodites; the sex of the child was based on the surgical decision and little tracking was done after surgery to determine how the child adjusted psychologically. Consequently, statistics regarding post pubescent hermaphrodites are not readily available. The second most obvious reason is the taboo factor; parents of hermaphrodites are often reluctant to discuss their children. Today the prevailing attitude is to let the child develop and see which sex becomes more psychologically predominate. That, as XXY so expertly explores, is not as easy as it seems since the child is reared and conditioned to be only one sex. At age 15 the hormones begin to kick in…but which ones?
“The key to making such a story believable is to cast the central character properly. It is difficult to imagine a more perfect actress
to play Alex than Inés Efron. She’s sometimes androgynous; at other times she is quite feminine. The specter of Alex’s sexual complications influenced her parents move to a remote area on the seashore. Raised as a young girl, she is beginning to shift gears as her masculine side emerges. Her parents are nurturing yet at a loss to answer Alex’s questions such as ‘If I’m special why can’t I talk about it?’
“Before the film begins some incident has occurred between Alex and her boyfriend Juan (Guillermo Angelelli). Influenced by concern over Alex’s future, Alex’s mother (Valeria Bertuccelli) has invited a renowned surgeon (Germán Palacios), his wife (Carolina Pelleritti) and son Alvaro (Martín Piroyansky) to their home under the pretense of it being a social visit. Alex’s father (Ricardo Darin), a marine biologist, does not know why the guests have come.
“Alvaro is a strangely withdrawn child. When he and Alex go off on their own, Alex is the immediate aggressor in the relationship saying, ‘I’ve never fucked anybody, would you like to?’ Alvaro is terrified by the suggestion. The next time they meet Alex does not give Alvaro a chance to say no.
“When Kracken discovers his wife’s motive for inviting the guests – to force the decision for Alex’s surgery – he is angry at first. He does some research and finds a married man in a nearby town who, after being raised as a girl, has had reconstructive surgery fairly late and is able to a normal, fulfilling life. When Alex gets attacked by a gang of young boys, Kracken decides it is the time to force some issues. Calmly he approaches Alex and brings up the subject of making decisions; he is shocked by her response. Meanwhile, Alvaro’s father is asking questions about what went on between Alvaro and Alex. He is neither sympathetic nor understanding in dealing with his son’s emotions. Unlike Kracken he gets very little information from his child. The two scenes between father and child hold the key to the film’s ultimate success; they summarize the issues perfectly while providing dramatic highlights. 4.5 cats
“XXY screened at the 2008 New Directors/New Films series sponsored jointly by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and MOMA.”
Michael says: “Argentinian director Lucía Puenzo adapted a short story by her fellow countryman Sergio Bizzio to create a thoughtful, powerful film about a little-addressed subject. Alex is a 15-year-old hermaphrodite living with her parents in a sleepy fishing village on the coast of Uruguay. Now that Alex has reached adolescence, her parents feel it is time for a decision to be made, possibly involving surgery. Alex’ mother Suli contact her friend whose husband happens to be a plastic surgeon. The two arrive along with their adolescent son, and take up residence in Alex’ home. The tension, both sexual (between Alex and new arrival Alvaro) and distrustful (between Kraken, Alex’ marine biologist father and the plastic surgeon) is immediate, and the film follows some of the predictable paths around parent/teen conflict, and sexual coming-of-age. Of course, Alex’ condition keep everything on the unconventional side, and Puenzo’s deft hand avoids most of the heavy-handedness that a film like this could
easily fall prey to.
“Inés Efron is wonderfully surly and complicated as Alex, and Ricardo Darín, known to Chlotrudis members for his star turn in 2005’s Buried Treasure nominee, THE AURA is incredibly good… surprising me with a father who strays far from the role I was expecting. Glad to see more powerful drama emerging from South America. I recommend this one on DVD. 4 1/2 cats”
Tony says: “This one I liked. The beginning was a little cute with the camera angles and I was worried, but either they stopped that or got better at it because after the first five or ten minutes I didn’t notice it and I was just watching the story. It’s about two kids and their parents and a Toyota pickup truck with a Beatles sticker. I thought the Beatles sticker added to the story, even though the movie isn’t about the Beatles.”
Carolyn says: “This story about Alex, a hermaphrodite who has grown up female, is well-portrayed. We get a very good sense of Alex’s confusion, embarrassment, and confidence about her situation though she maintains almost complete detachment from those around her both emotionally and physically. 4.5 cats”