Film Reviews

XXY

• Rating:
• Director: Lucia Puenzo.
• Starring: Ines Afron, Martin Piroyansky, Ricardo Darin, Valeria Bertuccelli.
• Details: Argentina / 86mins (16).

Argentinian movies about teenage hermaphrodites don't come along every day, but Lucia Puenzo makes it unmissable when it does. Without much set up, debutant writer-director Puenzo drops us straight into the mix: a renowned plastic surgeon and his wife arrive in a remote seaside town at the behest of a disturbed mother. Her daughter Alex (Afron) was born with both male and female reproductive organs and takes pills that help her become a 'real' woman. However, the troubled Alex has stopped taking her pills, which plays havoc with her body and her mind. With the surgeon and his wife is their son Alvaro, who is both attracted to and repelled by Alex, and they embark on a unique relationship. We have to be grateful to Puenzo to include the clueless surgeon's wife, who only here to ask questions for us - the whats, the whys and the hows - because nothing is ever spelled out and Puenzo must be applauded for not over-relying on this screenwriting ploy. In fact, Puenzo must be applauded for many things: treating the subject with respect, care, and, because Alex's story will continue after the credits role, not offering any answers and tying everything up by the close. Afron is an exciting talent and fully deserves the indigenous awards she received. Alex is a complex role: not only does she have the usual teenage angst to deal with, she is being forced to finally decide what sex she wants to be when underneath it all she's happy with the way she is. How can a fifteen-year-old communicate that everyone is wrong, that they are the only ones who have the problem? Not exactly John Hughes, is it?

Review by Gavin Burke