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Will’s Critical Film Review

The film that I viewed at the Reelout Film Festival was “Zen in the Ice Rift” by Margherita Ferri. Right after I had purchased the ticket for the film, I went onto YouTube to watch the trailer. It was very surprising to me that the entire movie was in Italian, but at the same time I was also excited because I had never seen a film in Italian before. Going into it I assumed that it was going to be challenging to read the subtitles and keep up with the film but I discovered that having the subtitles in the film kept me focused throughout the movie which made it very easy to keep up with all of the action and the plot of the film. I really enjoyed the visuals and script within the film and thought that both were done exceptionally well. The acting from Eleonora Conti was also very well done and very enjoyable to watch. A theme within the film that I was able to take away was the theme of Intersectionality. Intersectionality is a theory that has been promoted by Black American legal scholar and critical race theorist Kimberlé Crenshaw. “Intersectionality is a framework for conceptualizing a person, group of people, or social problem as affected by a number of discriminations and disadvantages. It takes into account people’s overlapping identities and experiences in order to understand the complexity of prejudices they face.” (Alemán) This theory is prominent throughout the film as Zen, who is criticized and oppressed because of his gender and sexual orientation faces substantial backlash and bullying from his teammates and even from his own mother who refuses to call him Zen and strictly calls him Maia. The double oppression that Zen faces causes him to block everyone out from his life. At school and on the ice, he is constantly called a lesbian which is the sexuality that he never chose to identify with. Zen is constantly bullied by everyone in his life, his mother, his teammates, and his classmates. Within the film they call him things like “half female” and “a shitty lesbian bitch” which are both very insensitive and help portray the oppression that he faces. The viewer can easily tell that Zen is in the middle of a conflict as soon as the film begins as the opening scene begins with him pointing his middle finger in the sky. This represents that he is going through lots of trouble in his life. A great symbolic element that the film uses to represent Zen’s emotions are the cuts of the glaciers melting and cracking. This is showing the viewer how broken Zen is on the inside and how he requires help. One of Zen’s bullies is the captain of the hockey team who’s girlfriend isa character named Vanessa. One day a few of the bullies put a bike lock around Zen’s neck and lock him to a railing. Vanessa is the one that gets Zen out of the lock and in exchange, asks Zen for the keys to his lodge.  Zen gives the leys to her so that she can have sex with her boyfriend in a private place. When Vanessa and her boyfriend try to have sex, Vanessa gets very overwhelmed and scared and begins to question her own sexuality and considers the possibility that she may in fact be a lesbian. As a result,  Zen and Vanessa begin to bond and become very close. When Vanessa attempts to kiss Zen, he gets very nervous and pushes her away. This is because he has never let anyone get close to him before and is still trying to reconcile his own his feelings about his own gender and sexuality and he is still struggling to get over all of the terrible things people have done to him in the past. This part of the film is very realistic and portrays the real truths that teens go through when trying to discover their sexualities and gender identities. The bullying that Zen faces is extremely difficult to witness as a viewer because all you can do is feel bad for him. Bullying against teen members of the LGBTQ+ community is very common in our world today. According to a survey by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, “approximately 90 percent of gay, lesbian, transgender or bisexual middle and high school students report being physically or verbally harassed in 2009.” (Koplewicz). The effect that this bullying can have on young people is very significant and often results in negative outcomes for them. Within this film, the effects of the bullying that he endures, has a profound effect on Zen. The film helps the viewer to understand why Zen is so hostile and negative about many aspects of his life. In conclusion I thought that this film sends a great message that was very interesting to witness firsthand. I especially enjoyed the character development because it helped to show what teens that are members of the LGBTQ+ community have to go endure in life in life. 

References:

Koplewicz, H. S., & Child Mind Institute. (n.d.). LGBT Teens, Bullying, and Suicide. Retrieved from https://childmind.org/article/lgbt-teens-bullying-and-suicide/

Alemán, R. (2019, August 2). What is intersectionality, and what does it have to do with me? Retrieved from https://www.ywboston.org/2017/03/what-is-intersectionality-and-what-does-it-have-to-do-with-me/