Mostly English some French
I saw this last night as part of the Frameline festival. Every trans person I saw leaving the theatre had a smile on their face!
Bob Hoskins and Josiane Balasko (who also starred as the butch dyke who seduces housewife Victoria Abril in French Twist) deliver commanding performances as a depressed English widower and a transgender, transplanted Frenchwoman who become the targets of gossip, slander and worse. Wounded but wise, their friendship becomes the catalyst for a personal and communal awakening in their picturesque, conservative seaside town.
Jack can't shake his funk after his wife dies, sequestering himself in his house and even ignoring the beloved flock of racing pigeons he keeps out back. But a couple of new neighbors, including the irrepressible eight-year-old Florrie, rekindle his enthusiasm for life. Middle-aged divorcee Stephanie reaches out to Jack as well, hand-delivering savory French meals and gently encouraging his mentoring of an erstwhile teenage delinquent and a bumpy reconciliation with his estranged adult son.
Stephanie knows disappointment and rejection, but she is unrelentingly buoyant and unafraid of life. When Florrie goes missing and Jack is painted as a pedophile, she bravely stands up for the truth — as do the younger characters, who prove infinitely more open-minded than their parents. An uplifting parable of freedom, flying and the possibility of reinventing oneself — at any age — Ruby Blue is a generous, openhearted film galvanized by two superlative actors and guided by the smart direction of Jan Dunn (who received the Levi's First Feature Award at Frameline29 for her film Gypo).
