Worth: $17.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Chase Joynt, Zackary Drucker, Angelica Ross, Max Valerio, Jen Richards, Jules Gill-Peterson
Intro:
… a fascinating, insightful and timely documentary.
Framing Agnes works on two levels – first as an absorbing and articulate history of transgender people during the mid-20th century, and secondly as a truly inventive and unique documentary.
Along with astute commentary from historian Jules Gill-Peterson, the film features transcribed interviews with transgender men and women conducted by sociologist Harold Garfinkel at a 1950s gender clinic. But it’s how the filmmakers use these transcripts, which were uncovered in UCLA’s archives, which make Framing Agnes a bona fide original.
As trans people were (and are) a staple on American TV talk shows – sometimes portrayed progressively but more frequently as tabloid tales – the filmmakers have taken the talk show format, recreated in black and white to capture the mid-century feel, to present the transcripts. Trans actors play the roles of the interviewees, with director Chase Joynt playing Garfinkel – who is frequently and cleverly challenged by his interview subjects.
In a further twist, the trans actors are also interviewed about their own lives, with the documentary switching between the retro TV format and a modern setting. While it’s slightly disjointed, the approach keep things interesting.
The Agnes of the film’s title was a well-known trans woman (played here by Zackary Drucker) who is seen by detractors as an example of the perceived duplicitous nature of transgender people and by others as a trailblazer – Agnes told white lies to obtain gender affirmation surgery, which was in those days only granted to those who had male and female biological characteristics. As is said in the film, Agnes is either “a cautionary tale about the untrustworthiness of trans people or as an iconic folk hero who navigated a system that was designed to exclude her.” She did what she had to do – or rather, said what she had to say – to get the surgery she needed.
Agnes’ is not the only story here, we also meet Henry (Max Valerio), Barbara (Jen Richards) and African American trans woman Georgia (Angelica Ross), whose history is particularly moving and complex.
This Canadian production deservedly picked up an Audience Award, plus the NEXT Innovator Award, at Sundance last year. It’s a fascinating, insightful and timely documentary.
