home | downloads | scene listings | non-scene listings | links | advertising details | contact us |
Click here for the graphic version of this page
Kinky Boots is the sort of film a suburban closet queen wearing Fairisle cardigans - but with a secret fetish for getting into drag - would be happy to see with his mother. It is a film that will obviously appeal to those turned on by red leather thigh-length boots with the highest of stiletto heels. Everyone will leave the cinema smiling. It's a fairy story that shows provincial homophobic bullies applauding drag acts in a louche London club and drag queens being cheered along the catwalk at the Milan Shoe Fair.
The narrative is based on a true story. Price and Sons is a Northampton shoe firm whose staple line in high quality brogues is facing bankruptcy from the competition of east European cheaper alternatives. Taking over after the death of his father, Charlie Price, Prince Charming-like, rescues a drag queen from a street beating in London. He finds himself quizzically watching Lola, the feisty drag queen played attractively by Chitwetel Ejiofor, doing her act. Charlie finds out that shoes designed for women can't take the weight of a male without the heels breaking. He has a brainstorm and returns to the factory planning to promote a range of shoes for ‘a range of men’. The workforce are persuaded into working flat out to produce a range of kinky boots for display at the Milan Shoe Fair. The alternative is closing the factory.
Initially, Lola, who visits the factory in a consultant capacity has a confrontation with the workers - who find a man in female clothing a threat. Lola also reveals basic insecurity - wanting to be out and proud yet wanting to be treated as a normal guy who just likes to wear frocks. The chief homophobe respects Lola after he is allowed to win an arm wrestling contest - drag queens are boxer-trained, apparently.
The shoe fair is a success as Lola and a troop of drag artistes wow the fashionistas with an OTT sashay along the catwalk. Charlie finds a bond of friendship with Lola as he realises the shallowness of his fiancée’s concerns with material possessions.
The club scenes are typically colourful, high camp and full of kitsch. We get the clear the message that we should never judge a person by appearances alone. Everyone in Northampton loves Lola because they get their jobs back. Kinky boots are seen as a high fashion item.
This is a film that celebrates plucky British workers, shows drag acts to be a lot of fun and that a smile will deflect queer bashers.
All bunkum ofcourse, but we don't really care as we sit back to enjoy a cinematic version of candy floss. Shoe fetishists will be keen to get the DVD to see the catwalk sequence again and again. Lola is a positive role model if you are thinking of dragging up. No drugs, AIDS or abuse are hinted here - although there is a glimpse of Lola's unhappy childhood with a father who disapproves of a school pupil wearing high heels. Up north [well Northampton is seen as up north to Londoners] cheerful workers take visitors to their hearts dispelling the realities of industrial decline.
It has been said that Kinky Boots is rather like a glammed-up version of The Full Monty but without some of gritty humour.
Go on, wear your favourite cardy and take your mother along - and remember to tap your feet when Lola sings!
Nick Tyldesley
Also this month:
Related pages:
Click here for the graphic version of this page
home | downloads | scene listings | non-scene listings | links | advertising details | contact us |
visitors since 1 Aug 03