I think to start this review off, I need to clarify that I've been struggling with my gender identity for pretty much my entire life. I've never felt right being a guy, I've always had more feminine interests. I never liked being masculine, I preferred expressing femininity with my speech and my actions. It wasn't until this year in early July where I accepted myself and started thinking of myself as a woman instead of a man. It was also exactly one month ago where I pubically came out as trans and the day I was truly born, as Violet.

What does this have to do with the film? Well it's because this film is what I've always wanted ever since I realized I was trans. It's something that tells an effective tale of trans people with such care and passion. It shows all the struggles we have to go through. Parents not accepting us and the publics view on us being prime examples. The fact this came out in Japan in 1969 is what really amazes me. For once in a film from this era, a trans person wasn't the butt of a joke. We are people, we have our struggles and good times.

The visual imagery in this film is something that will never leave me. I regularly think of all the choices utilized for its themes and symbolism. One example being that roses are commonly seen as a symbol of femininity. Leda had roses as her favorite flowers because it allowed her to express more of her femininity and be more confident in her identity. Of course I love the cinematography as a whole and how a lot of the more intimate scenes were shot.

I also loved the unorthodox structure throughout the film, it made things really interesting and it worked super well. Eddie is without a doubt one of the sympathetic characters in film and one of my favorites in general. I believe they were the ideal character for this film.

Ultimately this is one of the most important films in my life, right next to A Brighter Summer Day. It has left such an impact on me, it came into the right period of my life. Where I'm ready to call myself a woman. Thank you Toshio Matsumoto for making this film, I'm just so happy it exists.

"I wanted to be a girl..I just liked it"