FACETS CINÉMATHÈQUE
September 2008
The Facets Cinémathèque is located at 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. in Chicago. For more information on films playing in the Cinémathèque, please call 773-281-4114. To order advance tickets online, visit the TicketWeb website by clicking here.
Chicago Premiere
XXY
 |
WINNER
Critics' Grand Prize Cannes Film Fest |
|
"The psychological fallout from alternative sexualities is explored to subtle and penetrating effect"
-Variety
"Sustains an unsettling mood of ambiguity that lingers long after the final credits"
-New York Times

"Inés Efron and Martin Piroyanski give strong performances... director Lucia Puenzo, who co-scripted, tackles a dicey subject with sensitivity and taste"
-New York Post

"A somber, earnest drama"
-TV Guide
"An intimate, atmospheric character study with a lingering erotic charge, Lucía Puenzo's
XXY is one of the year's most impressive directing debuts"
-Salon.com

"Compelling... The acting is uniformly strong, the visual approach self-effacingly honest"
-Chicago Tribune

½ "The shots are beautifully composed, the editing paces the process of self-discovery, the dialogue is spare and heartfelt, the performances are deeply human"
-Roger Ebert
"Puenzo allows us to imagine, if only from outside, what life must be like for someone who doesn’t fit society’s tidy categories"
-TimeOut Chicago
Recommended! "[Puenzo] approaches her sensational subject with admirable restraint, connecting solidly with the teen's unspoken but roiling emotions and the father's anguished love for a daughter who might prefer to be his son"
-Chicago Reader
For just about everybody, adolescence means having to confront a number of choices and life decisions, but rarely any as monumental as the one facing 15 year-old Alex (Inés Efron,) who was born an intersex child. As Alex begins to explore her sexuality, her mother invites friends (one of whom just happens to be a surgeon) from Buenos Aires to come for a visit at their house, along with their 16-year-old son Álvaro (Martˇn Piroyanski). Alex is immediately attracted to the young man, which adds yet another level of complexity to her personal search for identity, and forces both families to face their worst fears. Lucía Puenzo's accomplished debut explores the painful search for gender identity of Alex (an outstanding performance by Efron) and virtually demands that people be given freedom of choice in a tolerant and understanding atmosphere.
Directed by Lucía Puenzo, Argentina/France, 2007, 35mm, 86 mins. In Spanish with English subtitles.
Official site
Director interview (Cinema Without Borders)
Director interview (FilmCatcher)
Variety
New York Times
TV Guide
Salon.com
Chicago Tribune
Roger Ebert
TimeOut Chicago
Chicago Reader
Showtimes:
Fri., Sept. 5 at 7 & 9 pm
Sat.-Sun., Sept. 6-7 at 3, 5, 7 & 9 pm
Mon.-Thurs., Sept. 8-11 at 7 & 9 pm
Tickets: