Lana and Lilly Wachowski

Keegan's text is a perfect theoretical and analytical resource for readers who enjoy cinema and gender studies.  This book draws on phenomenology and heuristics in making its case for narratology and notes prominent voices from the research field.

Even more so, Keegan explores individual examples of films and provides multiples scenes and elements in making the case for analysis.  Thoughtful, well-developed, and ideal for building conversation about society and art.

The first encounter I had with the Wachowski's was The Matrix movie. I remember the "brothers names being everywhere at the time. A few years passed and I heard one on them switched genders, but didn't really pay much mind to it. Then I saw this book. I had to look into it. Well, it seems both brothers have now switched and are sisters. I had to read the book to puzzle this one out. Fans of the Wachowski's  will find the book an entertaining and enlightening read. It's a great cinema study and look at transgender I've not encountered before. I'm sure that's true for many people. Fascinating and thought provoking.

Lana and Lilly Wachowski by Cael M. Keegan is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in mid-November.

Being as I don’t practice the act of deadnaming, I’ll say that these women have always been film producers and directors. Crikey, they're extremely thoughtful and philosophically meaningful people, Keegan included, who speaks of the transmorphic act of gender matching, filmmaking, and the act of viewing film; the misreading, confining aspects of Bound (particularly poignant, since I’d recently watched its re-release on Blu-ray); the complex, dissenting, emblematic, perceptional nature of The Matrix (Matrixes? Matrix’? Matriseux?); similar dissenting qualities of V for Vendetta, yet drawing from a militarized, propaganda palette; presents Speed Racer, Cloud Atlas, and Jupiter Ascending as a trilogy (well, okay, if you think so): lots of vehicle action, I suppose, digging and affirmation towards one’s identity, though Keegan insists on futurist themes, reaching through time and space (yes, that’s true), racial blurring/abstraction in Cloud Atlas and Speed Racer (kinda forgot about that); and, ahh, yes, Sense8, and the idea of social media mushing us all erotically together with an overall fluidity of gender and identity.

Keegan's book drawing upon the most recent iterations of queer theory and transgender theory offers a much needed re-evaluation of the Wachowski's oeuvre and style of filmmaking. Keegan makes a compelling argument that to truly understand the Wachowski's filmic output requires a willingness of scholars, critics, and moviegoers to analyze their films as transgender texts that in effect mark the beginnings of an authentic transgender cinema.

In Lana and Lilly Wachowski, Cael Keegan reassesses the complete film oeuvre in light of their coming out as trans. Like any view through a very specific lens there are a couple of weak connections but overall the arguments Keegan puts forth are very compelling.

The films are approached chronologically, though connections are made forward and back, and this works very well. If you're familiar with the many academic interpretations of the films, particularly from Bound through the Matrix trilogy to V for Vendetta, you will be very pleased with the added levels Keegan adds. There is no attempt to make previous theoretical understandings less valid but rather to demonstrate the Wachowskis' overall work can be better understood through a trans* aesthetic.

Reading this reminded me of the new book Foucault at the Movies and the discussion there about the difference between finding where philosophical thought is illustrated in a film and in the possibility of film to be the message itself. Keegan makes a strong case that the Wachowskis aren't so much using philosophical thought and ideas in their films (though they certainly are) but rather creating philosophical texts in and of themselves. It isn't hard to see certain thinkers in the films, much like you can see Foucault in Judith Butler's work, but the films make their own fully contained arguments much as Butler's books make their own arguments. My use had always been to read into the films, such as Baudrillard in specific parts (or all of Speed Racer) rather than reading the films themselves as philosophical texts.

I found the discussion of the later movies particularly interesting. Many complaints centered on the action and effects overshadowing any narrative. This was also leveled against The Matrix as well. Keegan argues very eloquently that the action and the effects ARE the story as much as any other elements of the films. How the effects are used, the feelings they elicit, aren't just for entertainment or the thrills, they have meanings within the overarching narrative.

This is an academic book for the most part but is quite accessible for most readers. If you are familiar with various ideas within trans studies the reading is even more accessible, but Keegan makes his meaning clear even when he uses jargon from the field of study. This is not a biography and does not get into much that isn't directly applicable to a critical assessment of the films. For that reason this might not appeal to some readers who are looking for more of a biography or a behind the scenes tell all type book. But if you have enjoyed any or all of their films, or even had mixed feelings, this book will offer new and interesting ways to "see" these movies. the interview with Lana is also a wonderful glimpse into her thinking and, what I found interesting, her sincere interest in hearing what others think.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.