
Pierrot Lunaire
Experimental Film
2014
Canada, Germany
Pierrot Lunaire, a trans man played by German cis female actress Susanne Sachße, is a ridiculous, violent, and harmful caricature of trans maleness.
Available Summary:
"Written and directed by Bruce LaBruce as an adaptation of Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire, the film adds a transgender interpretation to the work, starring Susanne Sachße as a trans man Pierrot." -Wikipedia.
Jack's Summary:
Bruce LaBruce has made his name creating edgy LGBT+ films which fetishise race, neo-Nazi skinheads, sexual assault, incest, gore, necrophilia, terrorism, mummification, monsters, and more. To put his ethos in perspective, when he wished to draw attention to a purported prevalence of homosexuality among right-wing movements, he created the pornographic movie Skin Flick (1999), wherein a gang of neo-Nazi skinheads rape a mixed-race gay couple. Most of his films are deliberately disturbing, pretentious yet amateurish in quality, terribly-acted, and praised online as profound art.
This film in particular is a mockery of trans male identities, bodies, and surgeries. It includes mutilation, murder, misgendering, bandage binding, and pathetic depictions of trans maleness. The trans male protagonist is a perverted martyr who flashes mutilated genitalia at a poor cis woman and her father, to prove that he is, in LaBruce's words, a "real man".
As a real trans man myself, I would not suggest watching this one. The director knows nothing about trans manhood, except how to portray a cheap and violent caricature of it. Don't waste your time.
Entry last updated:
9 Feb 2026