Change Your Image
miragreen
Reviews
Queens of Heart: Community Therapists in Drag (2006)
excellent documentary contribution to our understanding of the relationship between drag performance and contemporary gender relationships.
Queens of Heart is a unique documentary project which succeeds in portraying the complex world of drag performance from both the audience and performer's points of view. Telling the story of Darcelle XV, the oldest existing drag club in the United States, Jan Haaken ( producer and director) takes us into the world of 74 year old Darcelle as he describes the personal and cultural motivational sources of his work. The film skillfully weaves this personal narrative into an exploration of audience reaction to the performance. It is in the intersection of audience/performer narrative that the viewer experiences a deeper and more complex understanding of the inherent power of drag performance to expand awareness and appreciation of the fluidity and meaning of contemporary variation in gender expression. I recommend this film highly as a thought provoking, sensitive and often humorous take on a critically important cultural issue.