Review of XXY (2007) by Julie F — 02 Feb 2009

Movies, like intimate partners, come and go, bless us, entertain us, comfort us, fail us, and, every now and then, make us sit back and let us know that something extraordinary just happened. This has to be one of the most beautiful movies I have seen in quite sometime.

First, the cinematography. As the life of the main family is structured around marine biology, the film is blue. Underwater blue. Stormy weather blue. Calm and soothing blue. Second, the casting was amazing.

Ines Efron as the gawky, slightly androgenous, utterly fierce and gorgeous Alex was brilliant. Her confidence, indifference to the local thugs and vulnerability were all there on her fascinating face.

For me, however, the kudo in casting was Ricardo Darin as Kraken, her father. Again, an actor with an exquisite face, he approached the situation as a biologist and treated his daughter with not only love, but the respect that she could and would eventually make her own decisions.

The question is, when a person is born with both sets of genitalia, should the parents make the decision at the point of birth to have surgery performed and decide on the gender of the child, or should the person be allowed to grow and develop and decide their gender for themselves.

Not wanting to do too much of a spoiler alert, the movie received the tender and respectful handling it deserves â?? as well as peppering in many conflicts and twists. I cannot recommend this film highly enough.