Dressed As A Girl (Documentary)

This documentary demonstrates the stage personas of six outlandish drag performers of the East London. Their routines dramatise serious problems with bold glamour and self-deprecating humour and, across the six years he chronicles, the director depicts the lives of these eccentric individuals. He isn’t afraid to venture into the upsetting territory of HIV and addiction but the film as a complete piece is executed with enough freewheeling momentum as a tribute to celebration of art.

The film follows the lives of six legends of the London drag scene: Scottee, Holestar, Pia, Amber, John Sizzle and ringleader Johnny Woo, all at the epicentre of East London’s 90s drag explosion. Driving forces behind the area’s outrageous Gay Bingo parties, Johnny and his friends are shown in a new light, revealing the vulnerability and pain behind the glitz and glam. Scottee has recently found he can only make art about tragedy, recounting youthful liaisons with strangers and the constant fear of the police; Holestar, self-proclaimed tranny with a fanny, coming to terms with disability and the fickleness of supposed friends as she tries to rebuild her career; Amber, transitioning to life as a woman and trying to rebuild her relationship with her dad whilst her friends wander the streets trying to raise money to buy her some breasts. There's talk of AIDS and of aliens, there's drunken laughter at Glastonbury, freeform games of gay bingo and telling the Nazi Pope to fuck off. Life is full of incidents and accidents and the stage helps, for a while. Then there's the fight to be sober, and wondering about what comes afterwards, as they age.

The film's presentation of gender is important. Far from confusing drag with being trans, a common misconception, it illustrates the difference - the fun of dressing up versus the need to be oneself - but it also acknowledges the overlap, the way some people come to understand deeper feelings through what they do on stage. There's room for gender expressions beyond male and female, and for an exploration of the intersection between gender and sexuality that's never preachy, simply observational. In this artificial world there are spaces where it's safe to be real. Scenes in which the characters interact with one another are largely overshadowed by individualistic partying and spotlight performances – their stories are told separately and largely avoid transversal. The result is a film that, while touching and insightful, repeatedly gets in its own way and robs itself of its potential. This is definitely not an area or subject that interests me personally too much, so I am not being really objective in reviewing this, but I can say that for me this documentary did not do much. For most time while watching the film I couldn't have cared less. Just the poster felt a lot more fun and vibrant. (3/10)