In Magadan, subservience and fear are in the genes. The icy town in the eastern extremity of Russia was once a gulag and, according to one of Jenna's friends, the population has retained a distrust inherited from that time. When we see some of the inhabitants — at the supermarket, at nearby windows — they are less faces than scrutinizing eyes set on Jenna, judging her shaved head, outlandish costumes and black contacts. But sometimes glances turn into fists. Under the pretext that a “man shouldn’t dress like that”, Jenna is not only kicked out by security guards but attacked by a neighbor. Latent hostility and sudden outbursts of violence are a constant presence in Queendom. Not confined to Magadan, they carry on in Moscow where the artist studies. Most of the time, Jenna, with great humor and a deadpan expression somewhat reminiscent of Buster Keaton, seems unreachable. Otherworldly. But although her highly graphic outfits form a magnificent and uncanny armor, at some point she has to put the fabrics down, take off the white make-up covering her face and become vulnerable again.
Visibility pays off
With meticulous care, Agniia Galdanova documents Jenna Marvin in her adult life and all that it usually entails: financial difficulties, uncertainty about the future and the ability to exercise the profession you like, even more so when you want to be a performing artist. Serving both as a reminder of what's at stake for Jenna and for the viewer, her grandparents in Magadan call her every week. Have you studied well? If you want to find a normal job, you should stop shaving your head, you look crazy like this. What’s “Vogue Russia”, your boss? Do they pay you? You can’t live on likes and followers, you know that? Unsurprisingly, they don't understand their grandchild's profession, identity or desires, but that doesn't stop them from being more accepting than most of Russian society.
As one quickly senses throughout the film, Agniia Galdanova's main aim is to make room for Jenna Marvin. Queendom takes great care not to distance itself from her — she is at the center of almost every frame — and not to overshadow her with overly elaborate camera effects. Although effective, the image generally remains politely polished. This provides a striking contrast with the artist's outfits, all relief, height and texture, that experiment constantly in terms of fabrics and silhouettes. The most striking passages in Queendom are certainly those in which the framings themselves become more innovative. On several occasions, in fact, Agniia Galdanova seems to set aside the narrative thread of her story to film genuine artistic performances. In elusive locations never seen beforehand, Jenna appears alone, striking huge tentacle-arms into black puddles, or surrounded by a multitude of bodies covered in red, blue and white tape. In the midst of many torments, pure poetry.
Go West
Although the movie shows little outside its main character’s existence, Jenna doesn't reside entirely in a self-contained bubble. She is well aware of what she risks, opposing the authoritarian government’s laws and pushing back against her country’s transphobia and homophobia. Queer friends have been attacked, dissidents have been jailed. She might have to leave soon. That doesn't stop her from performing in the streets, and neither does it stop her from demonstrating (in drag) in support of Alexeï Navalny or, later, against the war in Ukraine. These two facets of her life overlap: the creature and the creator form a single entity, where art and politics intertwine. In modern Russia, where her identity alone is considered a political stance, it can’t be any other way.
Unlike Buster Keaton's characters, always thrown into a world that disempowers them, Jenna Marvin's stone face expresses an unshakeable determination, ready to confront a violent society she knows all too well. Devoid of any discovery, her gaze holds the world accountable. But, despite this fundamental difference, her impassive face serves the same purpose as the American actor’s: to make the body the main locus of expression. And, while we naturally admire the performer’s courage and tenacity, it's her art that keeps us captivated, with its display of bodily control and geometric intelligence. Encircled by barbed wire, suffocated by tape in the colors of the Russian flag, Jenna Marvin's long, monstrous silhouettes allow the flesh to say what words censor. May the world hear.
Pauline Ciraci
