A Fantastic Woman (2017)
Una Mujer Fantástica (original title)
Marina, a waitress who moonlights as a nightclub singer, is bowled over by the death of her older boyfriend.
Director:
Sebastián LelioStars:
Somewhere in Santiago at a dimly-lit nightclub, Orlando, the kindly and
well-off owner of a textile company, locks eyes with Marina, a hopeful
singer and the roughly half-his-age love of his life. But,
unfortunately, after Marina's birthday celebration and a night of
passion, Orlando falls gravely ill--and by the following morning--he
dies in hospital. In the wake of her companion's untimely death, Marina
will soon realise that, from now on, everything is brought into
question: her involvement in Orlando's death, their unconventional
relationship; and above all, her right to mourn her beloved deceased. In
the end, what was Marina's crime; a deed so hideous that would rob a
fantastic woman of her respect, her dignity, and ultimately, her
identity?
Language:
SpanishRelease Date:
2 February 2018 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
A Fantastic Woman See more »Box Office
Opening Weekend USA:
$64,241, 4 February 2018, Limited ReleaseGross USA:
$82,472, 4 February 2018Company Credits
Production Co:
"When I look at you, I don't know what I'm seeing. A chimera, that's
what I'm seeing." In Sebastián Lelio's new film "A Fantastic Woman,"
these breathtakingly cruel words are said to Marina (Daniela Vega), a trans woman in mourning for her dead lover Orlando (Francisco Reyes),
by Orlando's ex-wife Sonia (Aline Kuppenheim). Sonia speaks with such
calm confidence, such chilling certainty, it pulls the entire film—and
the problem it portrays—into sharp focus. Similar to his 2013 film
"Gloria," where a 58-year-old woman struggled to assert her
identity—sexual and otherwise—in a world where aging people are supposed
to be invisible, in "A Fantastic Woman," a trans woman fights for
simple human respect in a world intractable with hatred. Suffused with
fantastical elements, dreamlike sequences and hallucinatory images, "A
Fantastic Woman" stars Daniela Vega, a trans actress, and her
performance roots the film in a kind of intimate verisimilitude.
Marina is first seen on a romantic dinner date with Orlando. They
drink and eat, dance, stumble home together, make love. Orlando is much
older than Marina, and clearly wealthy (he owns a textile mill), whereas
Marina waits tables and pursues a singing career. But then Orlando
suffers an aneurysm and dies on the operating table after a panicked
Marina drives him to the emergency room. It is there her trouble begins.
She is treated with suspicion by hospital staff. She is referred to as
"he" because her license hasn't been changed to reflect her gender
identity. The cops arrive to question her. Orlando had bruises on his
body after falling down the stairs during the aneurysm, and there is
suspicion of foul play. Marina is asked if Orlando was paying her for
sex. She is not granted the respect a grieving wife or girlfriend would
receive. She is instantly thrust out of the warm circle of belonging
which Orlando represented for her.
Orlando's ex-wife and son (Nicolás Saavedra)
want Marina out of Orlando's apartment. She is forbidden to come to the
wake or funeral. She is not allowed to keep Orlando's dog. Meanwhile, a
detective from the Sexual Offenses Unit (Amparo Noguera)
visits Marina at work to ask more questions. She forces Marina to come
to the station and submit to a humiliating physical examination. All
Marina wants to do is be allowed to say goodbye to Orlando, to grieve
publicly. She's not just treated as a second-class citizen. She's
treated as a non-Person.
Lelio approaches this material with
sensitivity and empathy. There's restraint in his style, eloquent as it
is. He weaves in elements from melodrama, from noir. Marina discovers a
mysterious key in Orlando's possessions, and her quest to discover what
the key might unlock, makes up a large sequence of the film. "A
Fantastic Woman" is filled with color, lights shifting from red to green
to blue to yellow, bodies bathing in light, drowning in shadows. It's
an amorphous world, the borderline between night and day, consciousness
and unconsciousness, is blurred. Cinematographer Benjamín Echazarreta
has placed Vega at the center of every frame, her face, the back of her
neck, her full body. She walks the streets of Santiago. Sometimes she
is viewed from behind, sometimes she is viewed from across the street,
the camera moving with her as she walks past a construction site, or
along a block of storefronts. She is usually alone in the frame.
Santiago often appears emptied-out of people in "A Fantastic Woman."
These choices suggest Marina's isolation, as well as her vulnerable
visibility. It's like she's a walking target.
Marina sees Orlando everywhere, coming back to haunt her. A chaotic
dance floor coalesces into a choreographed stage show led by Marina, in a
dazzling silver and gold costume, an exaggerated version of womanhood.
In one scene, she trudges down a street into a wind so strong her body
is almost parallel to the ground, fighting against it. There are times
when she stares directly at the camera with a level gaze. These surreal
and wordless sequences launch us into Marina's experience. (In a
daringly obvious choice, Aretha Franklin's "You Make Me Feel Like a
Natural Woman" plays on Marina's car radio as she goes to meet Sonia. "A
Fantastic Woman" does not pull its punches.)
None of this would
be possible without Vega's performance. She's the one who really allows
us into the experience of the film, and of the character. There are
moments when a horrible grief rises up in her eyes at the loss of
Orlando, and yet she has to stuff it down in order to deal with whatever
is going on in the present moment. The way she walks is brisk and
efficient, but with tension vibrating around her, her shoulders tense
and squared-off. A small punching bag hangs by the door of her
apartment, and she throttles it before she leaves every morning. Marina
bottles up a lot of stuff just to get through the day. Vega shows us
why. It may be satisfying to see Marina make a triumphant eulogy speech
and win over Orlando's family, but "A Fantastic Woman" is not interested
in anything that simplistic. What does it even mean to be "a fantastic
woman"? What does that look like? Does Marina know? She knew who she was
with Orlando. Now that he is gone, she questions everything.
"A
Fantastic Woman" is not just about a person asserting her right to be
treated like a person. It's also about Marina's conflicting views of
womanhood, and how she might (or might not) fit into it. She lies naked
in bed, knees bent, with a round mirror placed over her genital area.
She stares down at the mirror, her reflected face looking back up at her
from between her legs. It's a stunning shot, filled with poetic and
metaphoric resonance.
Who cares what's between her legs? Why does it matter so much? Why does it matter at all?
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