Transamerica (2005)

Regisseur:

Duncan Tucker

Drehbuchautor:

Duncan Tucker (writer)

Premierendatum:

10. Februar 2006 (Denmark)

Genre:

Abenteuer | Komödie | Drama

Werbezeile:

Life is more than the sum of its parts.

Plot:

A pre-operative male-to-female transsexual takes an unexpected journey when she learns that she fathered a son, now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York.

Plot Keywords:

Pony | Attempted Suicide | Cocaine | Stepfather | Hitchhiker

Filmpreise:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 25 wins & 12 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

Felicity Huffman's wry performance is Oscar quality

Besetzung

Andrea James	...	Voice Coach
Felicity Huffman	...	Bree
Danny Burstein	...	Dr. Spikowsky
Maurice Orozco	...	Fernando
Elizabeth Peña	...	Margaret
Craig Bockhorn	...	Sergeant
Paul Borghese	...	New York City Cop
Kevin Zegers	...	Toby
Jon Budinoff	...	Alex
Venida Evans	...	Arletty
Raynor Scheine	...	Bobby Jensen
Kate Bayley	...	Tennessee Waitress
Stella Maeve	...	Taylor
Teala Dunn	...	Little Girl
Jim Frangione	...	Taylor's Father

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content, nudity, language and drug use.

Länge:

103 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Farbe

Seitenverhältnis:

1.78 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Dolby Digital

Altersfreigabe:

Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Argentina:16 | Ireland:16 | China:(Banned) | Portugal:M/16 | France:U (with warning) | Canada:18A | Japan:R-15 | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:R21 | Malaysia:18PL | Iceland:14 (original rating) | UK:15 | Philippines:R-13 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Chile:14 | Germany:12 | Australia:MA | USA:R | Brazil:14 | South Korea:18 | Sweden:7 | Netherlands:MG6

Drehorte:

Arizona, USA

Firma:

Belladonna Productions

Dies und das:

Not knowing the film would be such a success, most of the wardrobe and props were donated to charity and thrift stores after production wrapped.

Pannen:

Abfolgefehler: In a scene inside the car as they are driving west, a camera shot shows Bree not wearing her seat belt. The camera switches to Toby, then back to Bree, who is now wearing her seat belt.

Dialogzitate:

Toby: Did you know that the Lord of the Rings is gay?
Bree Osbourne: I beg your pardon.
Toby: There's this big, black tower, right? And it points right at this huge burning vagina thing, and it's like the symbol of ultimate evil. And then Sam and Frodo have to go to this cave and deposit their magic ring into this hot, steaming lava pit. Only at the last minute, Frodo can't perform, so Gollum bites of his finger. Gay.

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Ausschnittsweise enthalten in Schau mir in die Augen, Kleiner (2007)

Soundtrack:

Soy Infeliz

Felicity Huffman's wry performance is Oscar quality

I first saw Transamerica as the closing film for the Frameline film festival in San Francisco where it won the "The Frameline Audience Award for Best Feature". The film was obviously a labor of love. Duncan Tucker wrote, directed and wisely cast Felicity Huffman as Bree (before she had been cast as a "desperate housewife"). Huffman's husband William Macy was executive producer.

The plot line is certainly the tried and true formula of the transformational road trip, yet the irony of Bree's concurrent sexual transformation freshens a story that could easily have been cliché. Kevin Zegers and the rest of the supporting cast are superb, but Huffman's characterization of Bree is Oscar caliber.

See Transamerica! It's not tragic like "Boys Don't Cry". It's not about sexuality, fetish, or camp. It's a movie about otherness, transformation, family, and ultimately acceptance. Felicity Huffman's Golden Globe winning and Oscar nominated performance is absolutely astounding. Her acting skill fills Bree with insecurity, pathos, warmth, humor, and growth which ultimately transforms the audience's involvement from freak show curiosity to empathy and identification.

Thankfully the Weinstein brothers recognized just how outstandingly strong this performance is and decided that Transamerica would be one of the first films they would choose to distribute after their great success at Miramax.

I saw this movie again during it's limited distribution, again in general distribution and now own the DVD. Each time I've watched it I find even more to like. Transamerica is an indie classic.