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Kimberly Peirce
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 Boys
Don't Cry (1999)
One of the best films of 1999, this
fictionalized drama focuses on the tragic real-life story of
Brandon Teena, a biological woman (Teena Brandon) who decided
quite early to live her life as a man – a decision he paid for
with his life. Hilary Swank, in an Oscar Winning performance, is
riveting as Brandon, a sweet, but far-from-perfect 21-year-old
drifter who just simply wanted to be a boy and love women – and
have them love him. The harrowing tale, set in a trailer trash
Nebraska town, follows Brandon as he befriends and moves in with a
group of poor but fun-loving people. He also falls in love with
Lana (Chloe Sevigny in an equally impressive performance), a
tough-talking gal who finally meets a man who respects her and
treats her right. But when Brandon is exposed as a woman,
ignorance, fear and homophobia drives two of her male friends to
violently confront him. Unflinching in its depiction of the
working class environment and complex in its handling of all of
the characters, the film humanizes a person whose only crime was
to express his true sexual identity. An unforgettable film
experience directed with compassion and passion by lesbian
Kimberly Peirce. After watching Boys Don’t Cry, you’ll
be enthralled with the true-life documentary on Brandon titled, The
Brandon Teena Story.
Director: Kimberly Peirce
Starring: Hilary Swank,
Chloe Sevigny,
Peter Sarsgaard,
Brendan Sexton III,
Alison Folland,
Alicia Goranson,
Matt McGrath
Awards:
1999: Boston Society of Film
Critics: Best New Filmmaker, Boys Don't Cry
1999: London Film Festival: FIPRESCI Award, Boys Don't Cry
1999: National Board of Review: Best Debut Director, Boys Don't
Cry
1999: Stockholm Film Festival: Best Screenplay, Boys Don't Cry
1999: Stockholm Film Festival: FIPRESCI Award, Boys Don't Cry
Awards (Hilary Swank):
1999: National Board of Review:
Breakthrough Performance, Boys Don't Cry
1999: Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Actress, Boys
Don't Cry
1999: Boston Society of Film Critics: Best Actress, Boys Don't
Cry
1999: Toronto Film Critics Association: Best Actress, Boys
Don't Cry
1999: New York Film Critics Circle: Best Actress, Boys Don't
Cry
1999: Broadcast Film Critics Association: Best Actress, Boys
Don't Cry
1999: Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association: Best Actress, Boys
Don't Cry
1999: Golden Satellite: Best Actress (Drama), Boys Don't Cry
1999: Golden Globe: Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama), Boys
Don't Cry
1999: Oscar: Best Actress, Boys Don't Cry
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By Scott Tobias, © 2001 Onion,
Inc.
Kimberly Peirce spent more than five years
researching and filming a dramatic treatment of the life and death
of Teena Brandon, a teenage girl from Lincoln, Nebraska, who
passed herself off as a boy and moved to nearby Falls City, where
she was eventually raped and murdered. Originally conceived as a
thesis project for Columbia Film School, the story was expanded
into a full feature once Peirce hooked up with independent
producer Christine Vachon, whose formidable track record includes Safe,
Velvet Goldmine, and Happiness. The result was Boys
Don't Cry, a remarkably assured and emotionally devastating
debut that features a surprising and revelatory lead performance
by Hilary Swank (The Next Karate Kid). In what might have
been a mannered acting stunt, Swank lends charisma and
vulnerability to Brandon and, in a love story that transcends
gender barriers, Chloë Sevigny is equally fine as girlfriend Lana
Tisdel. Rounding out the cast are Peter Sarsgaard and Brendan
Sexton III as John Lotter and Tom Nissen, respectively, two
ex-cons who initially accepted Brandon into their group, then
killed her once the truth about her identity surfaced. Peirce
recently spoke to The Onion...
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By A.G. Basoli, © 2000 moviemaker.com
Excerpt:
Make your first film about something you
know.” That’s the advice you’ll get from film schools,
seasoned filmmakers, the guy tearing tickets in the lobby... Make
the film about something you know and there’s at least a chance
that it will ring true, that it will succeed. More likely by
destiny than by design, Kimberly Peirce took that advice. She made
a movie about a charismatic, nonconformist girl with a burning
need to reinvent herself; about a strong human being with a gentle
soul and an effortless, smoldering sex appeal who is determined to
make whatever sacrifices are necessary in a desperate search for
family, home, love, and a fulfilling identity. Her resulting
feature, the spellbinding, gut-wrenching Boys Don’t Cry, is
being heralded by critics and audiences as one of the most
masterful directorial debuts of the decade...
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From film.com
In Seattle to promote Boys Don't Cry,
Peirce talked to Film.com about her journey to Falls City,
Nebraska, in search of the truth about that night in 1993, about
her three-year search for an actress who could play Brandon, and
about why she herself fell in love with the story of Brandon Teena...
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By Cindy Fuchs, Pop
Matters
Interview with Kimberly Peirce, writer-director of Boys Don't Cry, by Cynthia Fuchs -- Kimberly Peirce looks right at you when she talks. And it's hard to look away from her, with her striking eyes and cool blue streaks in her near-black hair. She likes to talk, too. Really talk. She laughs easily, thinks hard, and wants to ask questions as much as answer them. She's talking a lot these days, promoting her first feature, Boys Don't Cry...
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