Boys Don’t Cry

Hilary Swank won her first Oscar for her portrayal of Brandon Teena in Boys Don’t Cry, and the film gathered multiple awards for its main actors and director in the USA and in Europe. Janet Maslin, wrote in her review for The New York Times:

“Kimberley Peirce’s stunning debut feature, ”Boys Don’t Cry,” tells the strange and resonant story of Brandon Teena, who despite being born Teena Brandon, went on to create a charismatic identity as an attractive young man. When Brandon was found out, raped and murdered, this tabloid-ready tale attracted the kind of omnivorous media attention that distorts the truth beyond recognition and milks reality dry…

…”Boys Don’t Cry” is never preachy or complacent in its depiction of its trapped small-town characters. But it sees the difference between wallowing in nothingness, a favorite Falls City pastime, and rising magically out of oblivion, as Brandon and Lana [Chloe Sevigny] do so tenderly when they fall in love. Moving inexorably, and with great innate suspense, toward disaster, it still savors the visions of transcendence and escape that Brandon offered. Unlike most films about mind-numbing tragedy, this one manages to be full of hope.”

Read more from Janet Maslin’s New York Times review