disappointment media
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • The Snake Hole
  • About

[Sundance 2022] FRAMING AGNES -- A Formally Interesting Look at Trans History

1/22/2022

0 Comments

 
Review by Sean Boelman
Picture
Zachary Drucker appears in Framing Agnes by Chase Joynt, an official selection of the NEXT section at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute. | Photo by Ava Benjamin Shorr.
Chase Joynt’s feature debut No Ordinary Man debuted at TIFF in 2020, and explored the issue of trans history through the context of modern interpretation of trans identity. And while his second feature Framing Agnes is similar in context and form, it is even more compelling in its approach.

The film follows the experiences of six subjects from the UCLA gender clinic in the 1950s, many of whose stories have previously been untold. It’s a really interesting way of connecting some of these stories that are already historically significant with those that should be as well as the experiences of trans individuals today.

To tell these stories, Joynt sets up a series of reenactments in the form of talk show interviews. And while this does give these portions of the movie a very scripted feel, they feel very genuine, and the talking head interviews are so authentic and intimate that it hardly distracts from the topic at hand.

The film does a very good job of making the audience empathize with these case studies even though many of them have to this point gone down in anonymity in LGBTQ history. Although Joynt clearly wants to explore how these stories were representative of the trans community as a whole, he is also interested in them as individuals, which really helps the movie to connect even more deeply.

​
​However, the arguably more interesting angle that the film offers is that of the actors who are portraying these historical figures in the reenactments. Joynt interviews them after their reenactments, and they discuss the ways in which they relate to the experiences of the person they portrayed. It gives the movie an even more personal touch.

The issue of trans healthcare is something that is definitely very important and timely, especially given that there have been some significant political controversies to arise recently. Joynt explores the topic in a way that is genuinely enlightening and insightful, yet without feeling like it is overtly political in nature.

There is also some interesting commentary here about the way in which the media tends to otherize the trans experience. A portion of the film discusses how talk shows like the ones emulated by the reenactments took advantage of trans trauma for the sake of entertainment, which is something that really needs to be called out.

Framing Agnes definitely feels like an evolution of Chase Joynt’s style after his already impressive feature debut. It’s a really interesting approach to documentary filmmaking that offers a necessary look at LGBTQ history.


Framing Agnes screened at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, which runs January 20-30.

Rating: 4/5

               
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019

    Authors

    All
    Adam Donato
    Alan French
    Camden Ferrell
    Cole Groth
    Dan Skip Allen
    Jonathan Berk
    Joseph Fayed
    Josh Batchelder
    Paris Jade
    Rafael Motamayor
    Sarah Williams
    Sean Boelman
    Tatiana Miranda

disappointment media

Dedicated to unique and diverse perspectives on cinema!
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • The Snake Hole
  • About