"Although the Farleys' trials have the makings of a soap opera envisioned by David Cronenberg, there's a quiet emotional hush to "Red Without Blue" that keeps tabloid prurience at bay and finds mystery and painful beauty in the unshakeable bonds of family."--Robert Abele, LA Times
RED WITHOUT BLUE is an artistic and groundbreaking portrayal of gender,identity, and the unswerving bond of twinship despite transformation. An honest portrayal of a family in turmoil, RWB follows a pair of identical twins as one transitions from male to female. Captured over a period of three years, the film documents the twins and their parents, examining the Farley's struggle to redefine their family. The twins' early lives were quintessentially all-American: picture-perfect holidays, supportive parents who cheered them on every step of the way. By the time they were 14, their parents had divorced, they had come out as gay, and a joint suicide attempt precipitated a forced separation of Mark and Alex for two and half years.
Through candid and extensive interviews with the twins and their family, RED WITHOUT BLUE recounts these troubled times, interweaving the twins' difficult past with their efforts to find themselves in the present. The film follows the painful steps of Clair's transition, including electrolysis and the difficult decision to proceed with bottom surgery.
Through its portrayal of these articulate and independent twins, each haunted by the painful experiences of their adolescence, the film questions normative standards of gender and identity as Mark and Clair reassert their indescribable bond as identical twins.
Through the power of the Farleys' voices, we hear the story of a family's redemption from a dark past, and ultimately, its revival to the present.
"Revealing, visually layered, and completely engaging, it's also a heart-wrenching emotional ride...After decades of shock filmmaking, only honesty like this can still startle us."--Regina Marler, The Advocate
"Half dreamy, half disarmingly blunt..."Red Without Blue," takes on fascinating depths and textures..."
--Steven Winn, SF Chronicle
"an understated but compassionate account of twin brothers who struggle to define themselves in terms of individuality and sexual identity."
Joe Leydon, Variety
"the filmmakers' skill and their subjects' candour result in a gorgeous biographical portrait that has an otherworldly emotional wallop reminiscent of Tarnation."
