As a documentary about incendiary political topics – including medical transition and discrimination faced by transgender communities – the Italian documentary “gen_“Unconventionally unconvincing. Directed by Gianluca MatareseThe film follows several months in the life of elderly Dr. Benny, a fertility and hormone specialist in the twilight of his career, whose job it is to navigate his patient’s personal life, and the conservative legal code through which they are bound.
On paper, the film’s arguments seem quite simple. It aims to create a sense of normalcy around trans bodies, discussions of gender dysphoria, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other non-traditional pregnancies. However, its methods are not clear. Its oblique introduction begins with Bini foraging for mushrooms on a hillside, presenting him as a man in touch with nature in the abstract, before the film screams us into the fold of his craft. This not only paints a broader picture of his life and interests outside his office in Milan, but frames his medical specialties as part of this normal world – his focus being the nature of human bodies, desires and impulses – and not as something anomalous, as in the minds of detractors.
Much of the documentary consists of consultations sitting across Bini’s desk, revealing his familiar route as familiar but to a point. They’re shot mostly in profile, which may seem counterintuitive for a film hoping to blind us to its subjects (face-to-face close-ups are rare), but it’s this clinical approach that seems to have a two-part effect. Although it creates an academic remove, it also allows the interlocutor to slowly but surely thread through his many conversations as he rattles off facts, figures, and options for trans and schizophrenic patients alike.
Some visit it for reasons of gender transition (surgical and hormonal), while others are trying to get pregnant after various difficulties. Through Bini’s experience, the film sheds light on the many approaches and complications surrounding each of these aspects of the human experience and, in the process, illuminates their political dimensions every time Bini tells his patients what they are against.
However, the film is not interested in discussing the humanity of its subjects. As far as “Gen_” and its central theme are concerned, the question of the humanity of trans people is an open and open one, as Bini sees his role as one of relief in confronting those who don’t agree. He often creates a casual environment with familiar jokes and jokes, putting his patients at ease—trans youth in particular, whom he manipulates. However, with laws and political discourse constantly in flux, Bini’s job, and his ability to properly care for his patients, feels compromised, sending him on a search for a protector in what seems to be a contradictory field.
“Gen_” uses the looming political threats to Bini’s work as a backdrop, rather than a focus, and instead allows her arguments to become apparent. A diverse group of patients have personal hopes, dreams, and fears, which the good doctor touches on, making sure to ask if they have a life partner or family member who they can rely on during difficult times. However, neither Bini nor the film is bogged down by overt sentimentality.
The film unfolds in idiosyncratic ways, scoring between consultations with upbeat, mischievous and utterly convincing music by the composers in the cantata as it oscillates between endearing and entertaining. Often, she’s both, and her ability to craft the casual atmosphere that could be possible is her greatest strength. However, it also feels like a tongue-in-cheek heist movie on a brief occasion, when Bini is forced to choose what is ethical over what is perfectly legal when performing an action.
Bini’s teasers indicate a lot of the film’s running time, and while none of them last long, there’s a seemingly endless number that could be drawn from them. The sheer volume of these approaches provides a wealth of understanding not only of the issues he deals with—from the complexities of sperm donation to Italy’s laws surrounding trans-male pregnancy—but of the people behind these issues. The sheer array of humanity on display serves a vital cinematic function: by alternating between cases that are trans and those that are not—but by treating them with the same skilled hand—“Gen_” essentially asserts that, through its inclusive structure, this trans health care is like any health care Others, and should be treated as such.
