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Boys Don't Cry
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Boys Don't Cry (1999) More at IMDbPro »

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Boys Don't Cry (1999) -- hv post

Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   30,642 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
No change in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Kimberly Peirce
Writers:
Kimberly Peirce (written by) &
Andy Bienen (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Boys Don't Cry on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
29 October 1999 (Canada) more
Genre:
Crime | Drama | Romance more
Tagline:
A true story about finding the courage to be yourself.
Plot:
The story of the life of Brandon Teena, a transgendered teen who preferred life in a male identity until it was discovered he was born biologically female. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 41 wins & 27 nominations more
User Comments:
Disturbing and powerful film more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Hilary Swank ... Brandon Teena

Chloë Sevigny ... Lana Tisdel

Peter Sarsgaard ... John Lotter
Brendan Sexton III ... Tom Nissen
Alicia Goranson ... Candace
Alison Folland ... Kate
Jeanetta Arnette ... Lana's Mom (as Jeannetta Arnette)

Rob Campbell ... Brian

Matt McGrath ... Lonny
Cheyenne Rushing ... Nicole
Robert Prentiss ... Trucker
Josh Ridgway ... Kwik Stop Cashier
Craig Erickson ... Trucker in Kwik Stop
Stephanie Sechrist ... April

Jerry Haynes ... Judge
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Take It Like a Man (USA) (working title)
A fiúk nem sírnak (Hungary) [hu]
Boys Don't Cry (Greece) [el]
Boys Don't Cry (France) [fr]
Boys Don't Cry (Spain) [es]
Boys Don't Cry (Denmark) [da]
Decki ne placu (Croatia) [hr]
Erkekler aglamaz (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Garotos Não Choram (Brazil) [pt]
Kluci neplácou (Czech Republic) [cs]
Les garçons ne pleurent pas (Canada: French title) [fr]
Los chicos no lloran (Spain) [es]
Los muchachos no lloran (Argentina) [es]
Meninos Não Choram (Brazil) [pt]
Nie czas na lzy (Poland) [pl]
Os rapazes Não Choram (Portugal) [pt]
more
MPAA:
Rated R for violence including an intense brutal rape scene, sexuality, language and drug use.
Runtime:
118 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby Digital
Certification:
Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (British Columbia) | Canada:R (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) (Canadian Home Video rating) | USA:R (Approved No. 36926) (edited for re-rating) | Philippines:R-18 | USA:TV-MA (TV rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Finland:K-16 (director's cut) | France:-16 | Germany:16 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIB | Italy:VM18 | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/18 | Singapore:R(A) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:NC-17 (original rating) | Brazil:18 | Iceland:16
Filming Locations:
Austin, Texas, USA more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The movie is based on the life of Brandon Teena. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: The "Dustless Highway" is shown in the movie as a dirt road where all this dust covers the cars as they drive. In fact, the "Dustless Highway" is a paved county road. more
Quotes:
Lana: I hate my life.
Brandon: I hate your life, too.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "South Park: The China Probrem (#12.8)" (2008) more
Soundtrack:
Fan Blades Of Love more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
118 out of 145 people found the following comment useful:-
Disturbing and powerful film, 6 May 2000
9/10
Author: FlickJunkie-2 from Atlanta, GA

This is a poignant and powerful film. It is the true story of Teena Brandon, a young woman who is in the throes of a sexual identity crisis. She cuts her hair and dresses like a man to see if she can pass for one. What starts out as an experiment turns into a full fledged alter ego as she is accepted as a man by a group she meets in a bar. The story follows the group's escapades, including Brandon's love affair with Lana, who falls in love with Brandon, thinking she's a man. It culminates with the discovery that Brandon is actually a woman with a dramatic confrontation in the finale.

This is film noir at it's finest. A lot of people think that this is a story about courage and lesbianism but it is really about neither. It is about the search for identity; not just sexual identity but the search for a deeper self . All the characters in this film were lost and confused, but Brandon was the only one who realized it of herself. The rest were basically playing out their despondent lives trying not to think of who or what they were. Here was a person they loved and accepted, but who turned out to be the most heinous of deviants as defined by their own prejudices and fears. This is why they were so fundamentally shaken upon the revelation of Brandon's true identity. It left them to confront their own flimsy identities. They were left with no respite from the emotional vortex. Brandon presented a terrifying threat to the way they viewed themselves. They were compelled to change who they were or hate someone they had grown to love.

This film was also about obsession. Brandon takes extraordinary risks to live the male role, not out of courage, but out of an obsession to know and understand it, and to see if she can find comfort and a sense of belonging. Likewise, writer/director Kimberly Peirce had been obsessed with this story and researched it for five years before finally making the film. Obsession generally leads to one of two places: greatness or death. For Peirce, at least for the moment, it has lead to greatness in the production of this film.

Strictly from a technical directorial standpoint there was nothing special here. The lighting was amateurish, the shots were mostly mundane. The sets and locations were realistically trashy, but it is a lot easier to create realistic trash than realistic elegance. Peirce also bogs the film down occasionally with excessive character development. However, Peirce captures in the story and the filming, the essence of rural lower class crudenes, bigotry and hatred and fear. It is the raw emotion that reaches out and grabs us. Her lens brought into sharp focus the base reality of inescapable despair and deluded hope. Reality often has fangs, and Peirce was undaunted in showing them and then ripping us to shreds.

As to Hilary Swank, I can only add one more rose to the bouquet of praise that has been heaped on her. If there was any courage in this story, it was the courage of Swank to take such a complex and disturbing role. The subtlety of her performance was astounding. She needed not just to be a woman playing a man. She needed to be a woman playing a woman playing a man, trying to look convincing yet insecure and unsure of how she was being perceived by the other characters. When in character, her many skillful lapses into moments of femininity, only to snap back into masculinity were masterfully done. For Swank, this was a meteoric rise from obscurity. It remains to be seen if it was just the perfect alignment of actor and role, or something more. I hope for the latter and look forward to seeing her next project.

Greatly obscured by Swankmania, was the performance by Chloe Sevigny as Lana, Brandon's love interest. She gave an outstanding performance in another extraordinarily difficult role. Her conflict over the implications of her sexual and emotional feelings for Brandon were sensitively and delicately portrayed. She played the part with a tentative eagerness, just as one would expect of someone whose sexual identity had been thrown into upheaval. It was also no easy career choice to be cast in a role with so many explicit sexual scenes with another woman.

This film was stark reality with no holds barred. The filmmaking was technically unsophisticated (and I'm usually a real stickler about that), but I rated it a 9/10 on pure emotional power. This film is not for you if you are offended by lesbianism, graphic violence or profanity. But if you are not intimidated by the naked reality of the darker side of life, this is a film you must experience.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Boys Don't Cry (1999)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
What exactly WAS Brandon Teena?? blantonbrenda
Chloë Sevigny should have won, too. Agent-69
shots of girl band video during bar scene Mimetic_Systems
Why is third victim, Phillip DeVine not featured? Cashodeen
I really didn't like Lana's mom!! loopylauseng
Film Misrepresentation Lawsuits? mOviegOer16
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