Review:
"A Fantastic Woman"
Release Date: March 2, 2018
Rating: R Running Time: 104 minutes The plea for acceptance on one person’s terms is rarely heard as loudly or as firmly as it is in writer/director Sebastián Lelio’s A Fantastic Woman, the eloquent Chilean Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar winner that examines how society often struggles—and fails—to embrace those who do not conform to its so-called norms. At the heart of A Fantastic Woman is a fantastic performance by Daniela Vega, a transgender actress blessed with an elegance and fearlessness that draws you into the plight of the grieving singer she portrays. She brings beautiful defiance to the role of Marina, who is shunned by the family of her newly deceased boyfriend Orlando—not because she is 30 years his junior but because she is a trans woman. Orlando’s ex-wife doesn’t want his relationship with Marina to become public knowledge, and Orlando’s son despises Marina for being what he considers to be an abominable of nature. Set over the course of several days after Orlando’s death, A Fantastic Woman follows Marina as she attempts to impress the family that the love she shared with Orlando was genuine and that she deserves to grief for him as much as anyone. Vega quietly turns Marina’s efforts to attend Orlando’s funeral from a personal crusade into a statement on the way the transgender community must constantly combat overt hatred and institutional discrimination. Director Sebastián Lelio, who co-wrote the script with Gonzalo Maza, initially presents Marina as reserved and courteous in the aftermath of Orlando’s death. While circumstances dictate Marina must understandably go the offensive, there’s a sense that she doesn’t near to dig too deep into of her in order to pursue in the face of adversity. A Fantastic Woman doesn’t say as much but as it is clear that Marina has had similar fights in the past and likely emerged bruised but unscathed. Lelio and Maza do not treat Marina as a figure deserving of sympathy but as one deserving of the same respect and consideration as any other person in her position. Heaven help anyone who gets in the way of Marina grieving for the man who loved her unconditionally. Robert Sims Aired: March 1, 2018 Web site: https://sonyclassics.com/afantasticwoman/ |
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