Actor Harmony Santana (a relative film newcomer who plays Michael/Vanessa with grace and courage befitting a seasoned screen veteran) will join us for the screening and to take your questions after the film.
Gun Hill Road begins at 6:30pm in Little Theater 1.
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Trans-themed movies can sometimes go very, very wrong in their depictions and/or representation....so it's really exciting to me that two of my favorite films this year have been trans films: "Romeos" and this one, "Gun Hill Road." This movie was honest in its portrayal(s) and extremely well acted.....and it's really refreshing to see a trans character played by a trans person on-screen. Thanks, ImageOut, for bringing this movie to Rochester and sharing it with all of us!
I can't believe Harmony Santana has never acted before. She was really, really good.
I loved the mother always tried to defend her child from the "macho" father.
Oh, the guy who played "Papi". Let me try to look up his name... yeah, Esai Morales—what else has he been in? He seems like I've seen him before...
I think this film could do well in limited engagement runs, such as at the Little.
I have to agree with Erik on this one. After all the noise the trans community made last year about ImageOut not being inclusive, I didn't hear a peep of praise from them (or see many of them) on this year's festival.
While I wasn't quite as huge on this one as I was on Romeos (which I'm now calling the best of the festival this year), it was very well done and superbly acted. It gets everything right and keeps true to it's theme and it's characters. Clearly this one is in the top 5 for the festival.
The saddest part of this whole movie for me was that only a few audience members were trans. Sadder still because we had a great Q&A with the star of the show, whom is transitioning in real life.
Given the stink raised last year, you'd think the rabble rousers would be all about seeing something real and enlightening. Or maybe even thanking ImageOut for continuing to disproportionately incorporate trans-themed films into the annual line-up. Instead we got a drive-by barrage, in the form of a poster commenting on unrelated films about gripes that were all addressed last year.
But then given my past experience with said community, I'd have to say it's what I've come to expect from them in the long run, with a few rare exceptions. Lots of noise when they see something they find objectionable, and utter silence (or backhanded comments) and 0 support when their concerns are addressed.
I didn't care for this movie. The downer of a story made it hard to find the entertainment value. I was never clear on the focus. Is it mainly the dad's story or the son's?
I do think the acting performances were excellent. Harmony is a talent to watch for in the future. I really liked what they did with the mother, in terms of her resolve and strength of character.
@Woody, at least two trans people purchased full festival passes this year. I know they were at Romeos, but don't recall if I saw them at this film.
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