Squid alarm
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Squid alarm |
| Country of production | Austria |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2006 |
| length | 107 minutes |
| Age rating | JMK 14 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Elisabeth Scharang |
| script | Elisabeth Scharang |
| production | Veit Heiduschka (Wega-Filmprodukitons GmbH) |
| music | Garish |
| camera | Josef Neuper |
| cut | Christine Ollinger |
Squid Alarm is an Austrian documentary film from 2006 by Elisabeth Scharang . It deals with the life of Alex Jürgen and deals with the topic of intersexuality . It premiered at the Berlinale 2006.
content
The film follows different stages in the life of Alex, who was 26 years old at the beginning of the film. Alex was born with an ambiguous gender.
At the age of two, the doctors decided to "correct" the intersexuality surgically and let Alex grow up as a girl: a penile amputation takes place at the age of six, a testicular amputation at the age of ten. It wasn't until she was 12, when Alex tried to use a tampon and failed, that she realized there was something wrong with her gender - at which point her parents let her in. At the age of 16 a vaginal plasty was performed and then a severe physical and mental crisis: Alex was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 19. Her brother's stem cell donation was followed by three years in a wheelchair.
Alex and the filmmaker Scharang get to know each other in 2002 when Alex called an FM4 radio show hosted by Scharang and told the story publicly for the first time. This is followed by several personal meetings and the decision to shoot a documentary. For the film, Scharang accompanied her protagonist with the camera for three years. In the documentary, she not only takes the position of the observer, she can also be seen in front of the camera in conversations with Alex.
The film shows Alex in different situations, while traveling, creating a video diary with self-filmed pictures, visiting self-help groups for intersexuality and, above all, in many long monologues and reflections on his self-image, her past and her thoughts on gender and sexuality.
In 2003, Alex decided to live as an intersex man in the future and to accept another surgical procedure: the amputation of the breasts that had grown due to the female hormones.
Working towards this decision and constantly questioning it is the defining theme of the film, which offers no end to questioning and no “solution”. Because although Alex chooses the male gender (he now lives as an intersex man in Upper Austria), there remains an insecurity and a feeling of being different, which is expressed in the quote from the protagonist: “ I find happiness when I'm fine, like I am. And I'm just a little in between. "
The title of the film "octopus alarm" is derived from a statement by Alex: The "octopus alarm" always went through his head in those unpleasant situations in which, as a 14-year-old girl, he had to keep the boy's hands off her body because she was afraid had that their intersexuality could be exposed through intimate contact.
Reviews
“Scharang sometimes seems almost too keen to give Alex's story a positive response - the contemplative songs by the band Garish also seem a little strange in this context. In contrast, Alex remains a refreshingly unruly counterpart who does not hide the physical changes associated with testosterone; just as little as the fact that nothing can disappoint him "
“The protagonist Alex functions less as a showcase for the information-mad spectators, rather you spontaneously make friends with him / her. Because a large part of the film consists of diary-like self-portraits of Alex, imagining the viewer as an invisible dialogue partner and drawing him into the world of the main character. "
“Scharang tries hard in the role of an understanding friend. However, this position endangers the rapprochement with Alex, as it intervenes as a socially accepted offer of identification. You can admire Alex's courage to be open and his path to becoming an activist who strives for the right to physical self-determination and the establishment of the first self-help group in Austria. "
Web links
- Tintenfischalarm in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Program of the film for the Berlinale (PDF; 103 kB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Age label for squid alarm . Youth Media Commission .
- ↑ squid alarm A FILM BY ELISABETH SCHARANG Press booklet with detailed statements by the filmmaker and the protagonist.
- ↑ Teaching materials from the Institute for Cinema and Film Culture (PDF; 170 kB)
- ↑ Beyond both sexes. In: Der Standard, April 8, 2006, page 34, last accessed on February 16, 2014
- ↑ “Unhappy in love spring nymph”, in: Die Presse, April 13, 2006, page 33
- ^ "Salzburger Nachrichten, July 4, 2006, page 12