Transfixed

Starring:Richard Bohringer, Robinson StÃ©venin, StÃ©phane Metzger, William Nadylam, FrÃ©dÃ©ric Pellegeay, Ginette Garcin, StÃ©phane De Groodt, Charlie Dupont, Veronica Novak, Micheline Presle, Marcel Dossogne, Thibaut Corrion, Jean-Michel Leray, Catherine Claeys, Julien Arame, Rebecca Potok, Sheila Trubacek, MichÃ¨le Robson, Jacques De Bock, Adrien Petrache
Director: Francis Girod
Studio: Picture This Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Description

TRANSFIXED is a unique detective thriller, replete with unexpected plot twists. Bo Ancellin (Robinson Stévenin), a beautiful, young transsexual with a troubled past, becomes entangled with nosey Police Chief Huysmans (Richard Boringer) as a series of demented killings erupts in Brussels' underground. Each murder and its surrounding circumstances are inexplicably linked to Bo, and it's this cinematic cadence that drives the film.

Customer Reviews:

Funny comedy of manners but not really a Stephane Rideau movie.......2006-03-08

This is a typically good comedy of errors and manners the French do well, but be warned if you're looking to add to your Stéphane Rideau collection, he is only in two scenes, as a policeman, and not on the screen for more than two minutes. But still, if you're a big Rideau fan, he is in this movie if only for those two minutes and should be in your collection.

'Una furtiva lacrima'.......2006-01-30

The aria from Donizetti's 'L'elisir d'amore' plays a significant role throughout this fascinating, intelligent, well made thriller by Francis Girod based on a novel by Brigitte Aubert and adapted for the screen by Girod and Philippe Cougrand. 'The secret tear' takes on many meanings as this complex story set in Brussels unfolds in the same manner as 'Diabolique'. Only this film takes even more risks and succeeds resoundingly.

Presented as simply the main character instead of an oddity, transsexual Bo (Robinson Stévenin) works as an entertainer in a drag club in Brussels. His best friends are other transsexuals, especially Maeva (William Nadylam), who perform with him. Some are also prostitutes and are falling prey to a serial killer who disfigures each of his victims in a vicious way. Bo, we learn, left home at age 13, unable to cope with sexual molestation from his father (Marcel Dossogne) and the suicide of his mother, and lives quietly in a humble apartment. Her interest is peaked when a handsome young Johnny (Stéphane Metzger) moves in next door and she fantasizes an affair with him. While Johnny appears to be infatuated with Bo, he has his dark side, living with a roommate with whom he provides sexual services for older unattractive but rich women.

The police, headed by Huysmans (Richard Bohringer) investigate the serial killings and in some way Bo is always at the scene or is familiar with the victims. The story revolves around the cat and mouse game of surveillance and complications of information regarding the killing spree. An interesting sidebar shows Bo's father arrested for sexual harassment and Bo is interrogated by the police about his childhood traumas with his father. How Bo weaves through all of the events - longing for Johnny, attempts for a consignation with Johnny which teeters on the possible versus the sadistic, gay bashing, gaining courage to speak against his father, etc - is the maze the story pulls us through. The identity of the serial killer is successfully revealed at the very end of the film.

The excitement of the suspense drama is heightened by Girod's stunning direction and by the completely convincing acting of Robinson Stévenin, but also by the superb characterizations by Richard Bohringer, Stéphane Metzger, William Nadylam, Frédéric Pellegeay, Ginette Garcin, Stéphane De Groodt, and Charlie Dupont. The musical score by Alexandre Desplat is one of this fine composer's best, and the cinematography by Thierry Jault finds just the right flavor of the seamy streets of Brussels to make the story as creepy as it should be. So with all this praise why only 4 stars for the DVD? The subtitles (the film is in French) are so out of sync with the film that they completely destroy the important conversations, so much so that many times the subtitles are finishing off a scene that is no longer on the screen! If these were corrected it would be clear to everyone why Robinson Stévenin won the French Cesar Award for best actor and why it is such a success for the daring director Francis Girod. Highly recommended...just be aware that the English subtitles will frustrate you - unless you speak French! Grady Harp, January 06

Transported.......2004-10-09

Set in the demi-monde world of the transsexual community in Brussels, "Transfixed" is an unusually understated, understanding and accepting film. Director Francis Girod has utilized the serial killer/thriller genre to maximum effect as he aims his camera at the risky world of transsexual prostitutes and entertainers.
Girod is not only interested in the built-in sensational aspects of this story but also the whys and the wherefores. Bo (Robinson Stevenin), a transsexual entertainer is very attracted to his shady neighbor Johnny (Stephane Metzger) who resists to a point, hostile even, yet only hostile enough to keep Bo interested. It's the old story of wanting something that you cannot have.
On top of this, there is a serial killer loose bent on killing Brussels' transsexual prostitutes. And Bo, through compassion and necessity is determined to find out who is committing these atrocities.
All of this might seem to be too much weight for one film to bare, but Girod is not only interested in the bizarre, he is interested in what makes all these diverse characters tick: what is at their core selves, what are their real natures.
"Transfixed" is strange and bizarre and far-fetched at times, but director Girod pulls it all together with his knowing and intelligent eye: he examines these people, he takes them apart physically and psychologically but he does it with a loving and compassionate eye.

Average customer rating:

Funny comedy of manners but not really a Stephane Rideau movie
'Una furtiva lacrima'
Transported

Transfixed [Region 2]
Starring: Richard Bohringer , Robinson Stévenin , Stéphane Metzger , William Nadylam , and Frédéric Pellegeay
Director: Francis Girod
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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( T ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00005UNUX

Customer Reviews:

Funny comedy of manners but not really a Stephane Rideau movie.......2006-03-08

'Una furtiva lacrima'.......2006-01-30

Transported.......2004-10-09

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