A Fantastic Woman
Raindance 26th London Film Festival
There is always room for variations on a theme…..
A Fantastic Woman – Academy award winner – best foreign language film.
Chilean Retrospective – Spanish with English subtitles. Sebastian Lelio Director. Also, co-starring Aline Kuppenheim and Amparo Noguera.
Marina (Daniela Vega) loves Orlando (Francisco Reyes) who is a divorced father and ex-husband of a close family. Marina is a talented singer with gamine looks which soon leads the viewer to conclude Marina – an unconventional female protagonist, is actually a transvestite. The love affair is very active and romantic when disaster strikes and Orlando not only falls ill in his flat but also falls down the stairs on his way to be treated and soon dies in hospital.
Poor Marina is left to look after the flat and to deal with not only these problems but her deceased boyfriend’s son’s prejudice and a prying lady detective who insists Marina has an intrusive medical checkup and wonders how Orlando had so many bruises when he arrived at the hospital.
Soon the funeral and cremation service is on the cards where Marina is forced to gatecrash both as relatives have warned her to stay away. In one dramatic incident, the still awe-inspiringly attractive Marina jumps on the roof of the relatives’ car full of people and causes banging and dents as she vents her fury on those inside. Formerly clips are shown of the lady practising boxing moves or a proper professional piece of equipment.
The family find Marina totally distasteful and strange but she vows to continue being happy and singing, dancing and flirting as all “normal” heterosexuals mostly do. The audience gets to see her in a very sexually liberated nightclub performing a sex act on a man she has just met for example though this is more suggested than actually filmed close up, then kissing someone else minutes later.
There are many nuances to the story – which was described by The Hollywood Reporter as “a knockout – the best” as we observe Marina pick up the pieces, fight on for a good life with the help of her friends and the final scene is on a stage with classical musicians where she is garbed in black velvet singing a beautiful haunting area.
Something different and an award-winning masterpiece from Sebastian Lelio who never fails to enchant.
Penny Nair Price