Derek Winnert

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This article was written on 30 Sep 2015, and is filled under Reviews.

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Dressed as a Girl ***½ (2015, Pia Arber, Scottee, Jonny Woo, Amber Waze, John Sizzle, Holestar) – Movie Review

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Film-maker Colin Rothbart reveals the real people behind East London’s alternative drag scene. Shot over five years, this excellent documentary offers honest portraits of six individuals at the heart it. They are Pia Arber, Scottee, Jonny Woo, Amber Waze, John Sizzle and Holestar, the last of whom is a female tranny. They tell their stories to camera, sometimes like it’s a friend, at others like it’s their therapist. There’s a generous, warm air of truth and honesty.

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Dressed as a Girl is hugely entertaining, touching and revealing, digging deeper than you expect into such themes as the nature of friendship and survival against the odds. The drag queens emerge likeably and honourably from the film and Rothbart tells their individual stories and his overall story with a strong professionalism that comes of his long practice on TV, though this is his first feature venture.

London emerges as a character in the film too in a film that has a sharp flavour of life in the capital over the past few years. London has changed and this is a testimony to that.

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Some parents turn up too, rather bravely, to tell their stories. But its the drag queens who are the focus, and they emerge as victorious heroes (or heroines) in a semi-hostile land. There’s a great sense of fun, of course, but also a feeling of sadness and loss. It’s obvious that life as a drag queen isn’t a bed of roses, but they come up smelling of roses.

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I’m reminded of a quote from The Rocky Horror Picture Show: ‘It’s not easy having a good time… even smiling makes my face ache.’

http://derekwinnert.com/the-rocky-horror-picture-show-1975-tim-curry-susan-sarandon-barry-bostwick-richard-obrien-classic-movie-review-1789/

The producer is Chris Amos, and it’s his first. Good luck, Chris!

© Derek Winnert 2015 Movie Review

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com

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