Tangerine (Sean Baker, 2015):USA

Reviewed by Felix Palmqvist, Santa Barbara Film Festival, 2016. Antioch

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This film has a slow start. It takes a while to get into it and really know what is going on. I caught myself halfway into the movie just attached to the screen. I could not take my eyes off the film. When it finally started making sense it was really exiting. I guess you will need that first hour just to get to know the characters and their patterns in their everyday lives.

Sean Baker, the director, was actually screening the film for us at Antioch University in Downtown Santa Barbara during the Film Festival.

The first 30 minutes are pretty confusing, with just a bunch of people walking to different places, talking and fighting with people. You get to follow two girls walking the streets of LA on a nice sunny afternoon. After a while you start to understand that they are not really girls, rather they are transsexual prostitutes. Less then 10 minutes in, one of them finds out that her “boyfriend” has been cheating on her, and from there she goes out trying to hunt down the girl who is sleeping with her boyfriend.

The most amazing part of the film is still that it is shot on an iPhone. It is just a simple setup with a steadycam/gimble/glide cam with an iPhone attached. Sound was recorded separately, which is good. Because of the good audio, it actually feels like professional production. After a while I didn’t even think about the fact that it was shot on an iPhone. I guess I just got used to it. However, sound is more important than the picture, at least for a film like this.

They mostly used a moving handheld camera. Some shots were taken with a fish-eye lens really close to the subject. One pattern is that when they are walking the streets there are always slide shots or circulating around the actors to trap/dubstep music. I think that really gave the film the right L.A. feeling. The music, environment, characters, and interactions created a trash-underground L.A. feeling.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this film. If you just bear through the start, I guarantee that you will have a few laughs by the end.

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Published:
02.21.16 / 2pm
Category:
Films, Santa Barbara Film Festival 2016