The Story Behind 'Gun Hill Road'
Posted on Aug 12, 2011
By Emily Wilson
http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/the_story_behind_gun_hill_road_20110812/Writer-director Rashaad Ernesto Green's new film, "Gun Hill Road," tells the story of a family in the Bronx whose father, Enrique (Esai Morales), comes home after three years in prison to find his teenage son, Michael (Harmony Santana), transitioning to become Vanessa. His wife Angela (Judy Reyes) accepts her child and his desire to change gender, but Enrique, though he loves his son, has a hard time understanding him and coming to terms with his own ideas about masculinity.
Green, who grew up in the Bronx, based the movie on something that happened within his own family, and in his first feature film he wanted to offer a message that people should love one another for who they are. Just after his film opened in New York and before it opened in Los Angeles on Friday, Green told Truthdig contributor Emily Wilson about why he set the story in the Bronx, finding a transgender actress to play the teen, how anyone who has ever been a teenager should be able to identify with the film, and the power of art.
