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XXY (film)

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XXY
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLucía Puenzo
Written byLucía Puenzo
Produced byJosé María Morales
Carla Pelligra
Luis Puenzo
Fernando Sirianni
Fabienne Vonier
StarringRicardo Darín
Valeria Bertuccelli
Inés Efron
Martín Piroyansky
Carolina Peleritti
CinematographyNatasha Braier
Edited byAlex Zito
Music byAndrés Goldstein
Daniel Tarrab
Distributed byPeccadillo Pictures, UK
Release date
June 14, 2007
Running time
87 minutes
CountryArgentina
LanguageSpanish

XXY is a 2007 Argentine film written and directed by Lucía Puenzo. The film stars Ricardo Darín, Valeria Bertuccelli, Inés Efron and Martín Piroyansky. It tells the story of a 15-year-old intersex person, the way her family copes with her condition and the ultimate decision that she must eventually make as she explores her sexuality.

XXY has received widespread critical acclaim, winning the Critics' Week grand prize at the 2007 Cannes film festival, as well as the ACID/CCAS Support Award.[1] It was nominated for eight awards at the 2008 Argentine Film Critics Association Awards, winning three of these awards including Best Film, and was nominated or won awards at a number of other foreign film festivals. It was chosen to close the 2008 Melbourne Queer Film Festival. It is distributed within the UK by Peccadillo Pictures, it had a short run theatrical release before being released onto DVD.

The film's title is a reference to Klinefelter's syndrome, also known as XXY syndrome, a condition in which males have an extra X sex chromosome. However, the main character does not display Klinefelter's syndrome.

Plot summary

Alex (Efron) is a 15-year-old intersex person, with both male and female genitals, who has been living as a girl and using medicines to suppress masculine features, such as a beard, and to attempt to have more feminine features. However, recently Alex has stopped taking her meds.

Alex's parents moved with her from Argentina to a village by the sea in Uruguay, to avoid society's negative stigma. Her father, Néstor Kraken (Darín), is a marine biologist who has written a book on sexuality and makes a living treating wounded animals found by fishermen. Her mother, Suli (Bertuccelli), invites friends from Argentina: a surgeon, his wife and teenage son Álvaro (Piroyansky). The purpose, unknown to Néstor and Alex, is to discuss the possibilities of a sex-change operation.

Alex bluntly tells Álvaro that she would like to have sex with him. Alex seduces Álvaro and begins to have anal intercourse with him (with her as the penetrative partner), but they are interrupted when Néstor catches sight of them through an open door. When Alex later apologizes, Álvaro admits that he liked it.

Three boys from the village forcibly pull down Alex's pants to see her genitals. Néstor realizes that reporting this to the police would cause the whole village to know about Alex's condition. However, Alex decides that it does not matter. Alex also decides that she does not want to resume taking medicines or have an operation.

Themes

Alex keeps aquariums full of clownfish. Clownfish are protandrous hermaphrodites: all individuals are initially male, and may later become female. This example of a hermaphroditic organism in nature is repeated throughout the film.

The sea animal motif recurs in the family name Kraken, which is also the name of a mythical sea monster.

Critical reception

The film received generally favorable reviews from critics. As of July 19, 2010, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 80% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 40 reviews.[2] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 67 out of 100, based on 15 reviews.[3]

The film's U.S. premiere was June 24, 2008 at Frameline 32, the 32nd San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival.

See also

References

  1. ^ Leffler, Rebecca (May 26, 2007). "Critics Week grand prize to 'XXY'". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2007-06-25. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ "XXY Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  3. ^ "XXY (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
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