Boys Don’t Cry is based on the true story of Bandon Teena (nee Teena Brandon) a transgender male who passed as a boy for most of his life, and who was raped and murdered by his male friends after they discovered he was female.

DIRECTOR KIMBERLY PIERCE

Kimberly Pierce read the article about his life and death by Donna Minkowitz in the Village Voice and determined to make a film out of the material. Although the plot line with its epic transgressional elements is very strong, it is the way that Kimberley Pierce handles the settings that makes this a memorable film.

MOODY

Some of the first shots capture the apocalyptic mood that runs through the movie: shots of the highway with out of focus car headlights intercut with a time lapse pan of the night sky. Cutting into the interiors we are pitched into an off highway world of white trash, truck stops and bars. In this half lit world surrounded by the automobile, the only time is ‘now’ and yesterday and tomorrow exist only as excuses and pretensions.

The dialogue is skewed about a continual psychosexual probing which Brandon fends off by resort to a survival strategy that eventually leads to his downfall. Central to the film are the performances of Hilary Swank who plays Brandon, and Chloe Sevigny who plays Lana, Brandon’s girlfriend.

OSCAR WINNING ACTORS

Sevigny was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and Swank won the Oscar for Best Actress.To take on the role of Brandon, Swank spent a month preparing for the part by living as a man, and she brings an exceptional quality to the role. Her dumbed down male mannerisms of the whimp who craves acceptance, and her use of an affected politeness are almost parodies of male stereotyping, but none the less effective for that.

SETTING

Boys Don’t Cry is set in Lincoln and Falls City Nebraska, though in fact it is shot in Texas. It takes it title from a song by the Cure, and the film features a strong sound track comprising numbers such as: Bluest Eyes in Texas, Nina Perrson, Codein Blues, the Charlatans, Who’s that Lady, the Isley Brothers.

SUCCESS

Made as an independent movie for about $2,000,000 the film was an immediate success, driven not by any huge marketing or promotional budget, but by word of mouth and critical acclaim.