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My
very first Doris Wishman movie... and it had to be this
one.
I've seen trailers, of course, for such celebrated
Wishman epics as Nudes on the Moon,
Bad Girls Go To Hell and Another
Day, Another Man. Besides being the rare female director
operating in the exploitation field, Wishman (1920-2002) is
perhaps best remembered for the audacious ineptitude of her
work — she seems to have stubbornly resisted learning anything
about the craft of filmmaking from her decades of experience.
Although credited with helming 28 features over a span of 40+
years, her last films are supposedly every bit as bad as her
first!
I
can't say whether 1978's Let Me Die a
Woman is her worst movie in a technical sense (it very
likely isn't), but I simply can't imagine any of the others
being as downright crass and distasteful as this "mondo"-style
pseudo-documentary about the lives of transsexuals. It's a cinematic
atrocity, plain and simple. Prior to screening it I thought
the most disgusting thing I'd ever seen in a motion picture
were the real animal deaths shown in some of those Italian cannibal
flicks... but now, I don't know. Having just suffered (and I
mean suffered) through this thing, I'll forever think
of it as "Let Me Die Before I Have To Watch This Movie
Again."
Our narrator/guide
through the world of transsexualism is Dr. Leo Wollman, a real-life
Brooklyn physician who supposedly specialized in gynecology
and hypnotism. He sits in a tackily decorated office, obviously
reading his dumbed-down 'lecture' from cue cards as if addressing
a class of fifth graders. His discussion of the psychological
factors associated with gender dysphoria and the procedures
used to surgically transform members of one sex into another
are periodically illustrated with sequences both real and staged
(mostly the latter), including a group therapy session, medical
examinations, 'dramatic reenactments' and interviews. At one
point the good doctor acquaints us with the various types of
dildos used by post-op transsexuals to stretch out their new
vaginas; in trying to be blasé and clinical about the subject
Wollman only succeeds in sounding like some creepy roué hawking
sex toys out of his raincoat. Wanna see what it looks like when
a dude's tallywacker is sliced off? Well, thanks to Ms. Wishman
you can. Genuine (and quite ghastly) footage of an actual male-to-female
sex change operation will have most viewers, especially guys,
cringing in abject horror —
if not bolting from the room.
The reenactments consist
in the main of tepid, clumsy softcore sex scenes which were
apparently shot up to five or six years before the finished
film was released; future "porno chic" superstars Harry Reems
(billed as "Tim Long") and Vanessa Del Rio appear briefly in
two of these, while others feature what would seem to be genuine
transsexuals —
both before and after surgery —
and possibly even a hermaphrodite. (At least that's what I suspect
in the latter case. 'She' —
the hooker we're shown taking a shower, that is —
simply looks too feminine except for her shriveled little member.)
In some of the other scenes, such as the one with Reems, biological
women are passed off by Wishman as post-op trannies. Adding
to this catalog of horrors are Wollman's medical examinations,
in which real patients, stripped naked, are poked and prodded
by the doctor as he comments on their physiques. There's a grungy,
demeaning quality about these scenes that wouldn't be out of
place in a Naziploitation flick, made all the worse because
real people are involved, not actors. Only the steeliest,
most hardened of exploitation fans won't be squirming in discomfort
as Wishman's camera zeroes in on a post-op male-to-female patient
inserting a big dildo-like device (a "dilator") up
her cootchie... followed by a tight close-up of the doc's own
fingers exploring said orifice. Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeee!!!!
The only participant
to emerge from this tripe with any shred of their dignity intact
is "Leslie", the attractive Latina transsexual whose
interview segments are spread throughout the film. These segments
aren't scripted; she speaks candidly yet demurely about her
experiences growing up "different" and her much happier
life after undergoing gender-changing surgery. In fact, an audience
seeking genuine, worthwhile knowledge about transsexualism would've
been much better served had the film been focused solely on
her story. Wishman, of course, was primarily interested in sensationalism
—
thus the in-your-face surgery footage, shockingly intimate pelvic
exam and phony group therapy session attended by some of the
goofiest looking drag queens imaginable. (One
previously 'lost' scene, restored for the first time by this
DVD, shows a man gorily chopping off his dick with a hammer
and chisel. Don't worry, it's faked... Too bad some other parts
of the movie weren't!)
There are a
few unintentional laughs scattered here and there —
it's a Doris Wishman pic, after all; the deadly serious trailers
to her films are often hilarious —
but they come few and far between. After the first 10 minutes
of amazingly bad cue card reading the humorous effect tends
to rapidly wear off. Unless it's Criswell doing it.
And Dr. Wollman,
you're no Criswell.
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The
"Transgendered Edition" of Let
Me Die a Woman is yet a further demonstration of Synapse
Film's unwavering commitment to high quality DVD presentations
of the most obscure cult pics — regardless of whether or not the
subject in question really deserves it. In this particular case,
the merits of the DVD are in almost exact inverse proportion to
those of the movie it contains.
Access to the original, uncut negative results in the finest-looking
version of the film possible, with only inconsequential print
damage occasionally cropping up here and there. It's actually
quite amazing how good the anamorphic (1.78:1) transfer looks
when one considers that we're dealing with a little-seen trash
flick made on a virtually nonexistent budget three decades ago.
A solid mono audio mix complements the visuals, rendering the
dialog and stock music clearly and cleanly. In terms of extras
the disc comes with an alternate title sequence (with commentary
by exploitation expert/Wishman biographer Michael Bowen, who points
out that some of the footage from the finished 1978 film had to
have been shot as early as 1971), the original theatrical trailer
(talk about a hard sell!), various promotional shorts and an amusing
radio spot. A full-length audio commentary teams Bowen with the
film's 'star' transsexual, Leslie, for a lively, humorous discussion
that's infinitely more interesting and entertaining than the film
itself. Bowen also contributes substantial liner notes chronicling
(as thoroughly as possible under the circumstances) the convoluted
history of this truly bizarre movie.
2/24/06 |
