Carlotta

Stories about the lives of transgender people - both real and fictional - are more and more popular as the LGBT movement becomes more and more prominent. What once was a curiosity now takes its rightful place in the world as trans people refuse to be marginalized any longer. Carlotta fits this trend, telling the real story of an Australian transsexual performer Carol Spencer, also known under the stage name Carlotta.

The story itself may be called a "typical" trans story: from denial, through inner struggle, to becoming true to oneself. This quality is by no means a fault, on the contrary, it shows something that is pretty universal not only for transgender individuals, but for many people not fitting "the norm" for one reason or another. Jessica Marais is really good as Carol/Carlotta, showing both vulnerability and inner strength of this incredible woman. It's a shame that such complexities of Carol's character aren't fully explored and her story is presented more as a series of events and less as an emotional journey of a person evolving and becoming true to herself.

Sadly, no matter how inspiring and fascinating Carlotta's life was, the movie does not capture that. The narration is mediocre at best, often taking big leaps and treating most of the supporting characters as one-dimensional additions to Carlotta's story. The cinematography is typical for a television movie and at times I found it annoyingly similar to the mass-produced Hallmark movies. I was left with the feeling of disappointment at the production value of the movie, as Carlotta's story could have been a really good piece of cinema instead of a pretty mediocre tv production.