Venus Boyz
by Gabrielle Baur
List Price:
Our Price: $26.99
You Save: $2.96 (10%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $15.69 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Del La Grace Volcano, Diane Torr, Dr??d Gerestant, Mistress Formika, Queen Bee LusciousDirector: Gabrielle Baur
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 103 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-06-08
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: FIRST RUN FEATURES
DVD Reviews of Venus Boyz
DVD Review: Venusboys
Summary: 4 Stars
This film shows a lifestyle I had never heard about before and it was very informative and moving. The expressions of the people in the vidoe are very genuine and it leads you rto a new level of understanding.DVD Review: Unfortunately, just interesting
Summary: 3 Stars
As he prepares to explain style, E.B. White writes: "Who can confidently say what ignites a certain combination of words, causing them to explode in the mind? Who knows why certain notes in music are capable of stirring the listener deeply, though the same notes slightly rearranged are impotent? These are high mysteries."
It is this mystery which causes this film to fail. There is so much of so much potency here; yet, it rarely ignites. (I think of only the two times the thin, black woman with very funky, dready hair breaks into song. There. . .that works. . .that moves. There is something going on inside her which merits more time, more exploration. That pathos, that struggle, that pain, that courage, that journey was what I was expecting in this film.)
The rest? It's mildly interesting. I'm made mildly curious about the world of drag kingdom as I could be made mildly curious about anything slightly foreign to me. But this way of life is not just slightly foreign to me.
The people? They were also mildly interesting. The entertainers seemed quite ordinary--like clerks with unspectacular lives--quite content within their own orbits and with their own celebrity. One of the entertainers talks about attending, then giving, workshops. . .
. . .There. . .That's it! That is exactly it: that all this--this potent stuff: this agonizing gender confusion, this social ostracism, this devestating loneliness--can become a matter of workshops?
Of course, although this film too often allows, it can't be.
DVD Review: Worth watching if you're already interested...
Summary: 4 Stars
Venus Boyz, a documentary film by Gabriel Baur, is all about the exploration and expression of masculinity by women. These individuals range from women who are primarily heterosexual and simply enjoy the power and entitlement they feel while wearing men's clothing and attitudes to women born as hermaphrodites who have, after years of classification as female have opted to explore their inner leanings towards masculinity and male-ness. This range of viewpoints was a key element of why Venus Boyz is a film worth watching.
Unlike their male drag counterparts (queens), drag kings don't have as may films that celebrate and explore why women sometimes feel the need to dress like men, although there are some. Other than Brandon Teena's story, which remains in the spotlight due to his traumatic death and Hillary Swank's portrayal of him in Boys Don't Cry, the individual tales of these female cross-dressers and trans-sexuals are often unheard. Venuz Boyz gives us a range of these stories and a chance to take a glimpse into the performer's lives both on and off stage. Although their tales are sometimes accompanied by kitschy performances, I felt like it was the less showy parts of the documentary that were really able to communicate to me some of the politics, problems and positives of cross-dressing and of exploring female masculinity.
I wouldn't recommend this documentary to everyone. Certainly, you have to be willing to listen with an open mind about these women's experiences with a gender-biased world, but for those who are interested in exploring how a group of women are working individually to redefine gender, this is a worthwhile film. Even though I had a very open mind going into the film and have a background in similar topics, I had no idea that the range of women who choose to cross dress was so diverse. I was also reassured to hear that many of the "protagonists" of the film have been able to find funding and support for their artistic explorations and expressions.
There is a reason that this film has won awards and been featured at major GLBTQ film festivals, and that it is because it offers an insight into a world not found in other films. And, if you have ever wondered about your own female masculinity, this film will likely offer you comfort and familiarity.
DVD Review: It depends on what you're looking for -- this could be it.
Summary: 5 Stars
The reviewer Jeffrey is a man and says that the camera moved jerkily, the movie was too slow, and some things are not explained. I am a butch woman and I loved the movie. I identified with the characters and was incredibly inspired by the characters, their performances, their ability. If genderqueer things are your things, if you are a butch woman who wants to see some butch women positively represented (for once) on the screen, then this movie is for you! You may be inspired to dream, expand your goals, and feel more confident about your potential (and the potential of other genderqueers) to achieve those goals. If you don't want to watch a movie on these issues tonight, rent something else.DVD Review: drag king documentary
Summary: 2 Stars
Not only is the drag king movement thriving, but it's being documented in various media. This documentary shows Judith Halberstam, author of "Female Masculinity" and Del Grace Volcano, photographer of "The Drag King Book." Here several drag king performers and butch women are interviewed. This film makes no division between kings, transsexuals, or butches.
Consistently, those interviewed say they want to blend genders or do away with the concept: they don't just want to experience "the other side." Many perform with drag queens or do avant-garde work with gay men. One transsexual referred to her body parts by both male and female terms.
There are a ton of foreign drag kings in this work. Does that mean Europe is a more accepting place or more condemning and thus kings have to fight harder over there? Does that mean American women don't have much to say about the movement? Does that mean the movement is really global? None of this gets answered.
This film moves slow. The camera has many jerky movements and the view is often blurred. Many may think of this documentary as a female version of "Paris Is Burning." However, PIB was funnier and moved faster. This just plodded along. I'm guessing the makers here lacked the funds and time that Jenny Livingstone had.
The title is never explained. They show some kings doing an excellent imitation of the Backstreet Boys, yet they only show it for a second. In the academic Drag King anthology, it is stressed that the movement isn't in just big cities like New York or London. However, in this documentary, only the big city shows and performers are brought up.
I'm happy that someone made this work. It just wasn't that great.
Description of Venus Boyz
{WINNER! Best Film -- Semaine de la Critique Locarno 2001}{WINNER! Panorama -- International Film Festival Berlin 2002}
{WINNER! Audience Award -- Copenhagen Gay&Lesbian Film Festival 2002}
{WINNER! Audience Award -- Mostra Lambda Barcelona 2003}
VENUS BOYZ explores how, for the various women involved, masculinity can be defined as performance, subversion, aesthetic choice or existential necessity. The Drag Kings profiled discuss their lives with candor, humor and insight, exploring or enacting male eroticism and power strategies with a self-confidence befitting the gender pioneers they are. As celebrated Drag King Mo B. Dick explains, "Instead of becoming an angry woman, I became a funny man." Baur also researches the world of female-to-male (FTM) and inter-sexed persons and follows their transformation, as we see women who experiment with male hormones to become 'new men' and 'cyborgs'.
Germany DVDs
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Bestsellers in Germany DVDs
The Power of OneWarner Brothers; Release date: 1999-06-22; DVD
Best price: $3.75
Price in other shops:
Run Lola RunSony; Release date: 1999-12-21; DVD
Best price: $5.88
Price in other shops:
The NeverEnding StoryHATHAWAY,NOAH; Release date: 2001-09-04; DVD
Best price: $4.65
Price in other shops:
Black BookSony; Release date: 2007-09-25; DVD
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
Death at a FuneralTWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2008-02-26; DVD
Best price: $5.90
Price in other shops:
What I Did For LoveRelease date: 2007-10-16; DVD
Best price: $2.98
Price in other shops:
DownfallSony; Release date: 2005-08-02; DVD
Best price: $6.32
Price in other shops:
The Lives of OthersSony; Release date: 2007-08-21; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
AmelieTAUTOU,AUDREY; Release date: 2002-07-16; DVD
Best price: $10.58
Price in other shops:
V for Vendetta (Widescreen Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2006-08-01; DVD
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Transamerica (Widescreen Edition)HUFFMAN,FELICITY; Release date: 2006-05-23; DVD
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops:
Ashley and Kisha: Finding The Right Fit (Real People, Real Life, Real Sex series)Release date: 2007-06-15; DVD
Best price: $23.95
Price in other shops:
Cruel & Unusual (2006)Release date: 2006-10-24; DVD
Best price: $9.69
Price in other shops:
Soldier's GirlParamount; Release date: 2004-01-27; DVD
Best price: $7.53
Price in other shops:
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (New Line Platinum Series)Release date: 2001-12-11; DVD
Best price: $9.97
Price in other shops:
GendernautsRelease date: 2006-01-17; DVD
Best price: $14.46
Price in other shops:
TransGenerationNEW VIDEO GROUP INC; Release date: 2006-03-28; DVD
Best price: $14.67
Price in other shops:
Paris Is BurningParis; Release date: 2005-09-06; DVD
Best price: $20.54
Price in other shops:
Southern ComfortNew Video; Release date: 2003-03-25; DVD
Best price: $12.78
Price in other shops:
The AggressivesImage Entertainment; Release date: 2006-06-20; DVD
Best price: $12.19
Price in other shops: