The trailer for this film intrigued me a great deal. When I got the opportunity to see it my expectations were rather high because I'd found the trailer so interesting. Then the film started, and I felt a little deflated thinking this isn't what I was expecting. And then something happened to me as I was watching it . . . I began to have a very visceral reaction to it. I am one of those people who does feel that many documentaries take advantage and capitalize on the exploitation of their subjects. But the people who fill out the frames of "Prodigal Sons" are human beings trying to tell the truth. The film never feels exploitative, quite simply it feels honest. It is a brave film that the courageous director, Kimberly Reed, has made and it deserves to be seen by a vast audience. I find it odd that some would narrowly consider this film "another one of those gay docs about members of the trans-gendered community". Although one of the subjects may be trans-gendered, it is not a film about the trans-gendered lifestyle. It is a film about the ghosts that haunt us and the ways we try to justify ourselves and our identities to a world of people when really the only thing that matters is the peace we make with ourselves in our own lives and with the people we love and who are brave enough to love us in return. Do NOT miss this film . . . I've only seen it once, and even though I want to see it many times again, I feel it's message imprinted on mind and I will never forget it.
Review of Prodigal Sons
Prodigal Sons
(2008)
An excellent film whose message will forever stay imprinted on my mind
23 March 2010