Boys Don't Cry

Teena has been in trouble in her home town over the years and is facing a charge(s) of car theft. She's been as liberal with the truth as she's been with other people's cars.

But Teena is much more than the standard stereotypical young film criminal. 20 year old Teena is also facing a "sexual identity crisis". She wants to be male. He tapes down his breasts, cuts his hair, shoves a rolled sock into his Y fronts, becomes Brandon and hits the local skating rink.

Soon Brandon finds himself in a small town some miles away and living the life of the boy/man he's always wanted to be. He finds himself in love with Lana (Chloe Sevigny) who doesn't know Brandon's secret.

Brandon is much nicer than any of the local men and sweeps Lana off her feet.

Chloe Sevigny was rightly nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role as Lana.

Boys Don't Cry doesn't sensationalise. Brandon just gets on with who he is with a sweet smile and with a devil may care enthusiasm. He lives his new life in a trailer park near the factory where Lana sweats for her pay.

His relationship with the other men is a challenge. Not really knowing the rules, he's both delighted and frequently confused. Unfortunately the men are short fused, dangerous, homophobic and likely to be very upset if they find out Brandon's secret.

This is compounded by the fact that one of them had been seeing Lana in times gone by.

Boys Don't Cry derives its strength from the freshness and honesty of Hilary Swank's performance which is beautifully tempered by the work of Chloe Sevigny. They get to work with a script which leaves plenty of room for us to guess at what might be going on in people's minds.

Director and co/writer Kimberly Peirce has let the characters justify themselves as well as they can. Moments of self doubt, confusion and fear arise with all of them except Brandon, who seems to have reckoned that living his dream is worth whatever might come.

Ultimately Boys Don't Cry is a tragic tale of thwarted love, set against the background of a flat, dusty, industrial landscape. The accompanying prejudice brought about by fear and ignorance adds palpable tension.

It's strong film making indeed.