- Awards
- 6
I have seen Myra Breckenridge. It is an unwieldy film, and I can see why it was received the way it was. It is that rare film that feels like it can still offend people after 50 years. It is guerrilla style filmmaking with Raquel playing a transgender character (formerly played by Rex Reed. Yes, that Rex Reed) who comes to Hollywood on a mission of revenge against John Huston, but later expands the mission to include raping an all-American cowboy type and seducing his girlfriend to boot. The rape scene is played like its a dark comedy, replete with phallic reinterpretation of classic film clips, but its grimly unfunny. Huston overacts, Mae West as a talent agent steals the film by rising above it all. But Raquel actually gives a pretty good performance, in spite of the mess. She is truly out on a limb playing a character with no vestiges of likability, and she goes at it feverishly. Is it a good film? No, but it has a pair of performances that work and it is sort of fascinating on a sociological level.
