Tangerine (Sean Baker, 2015) : USA

Reviewed by Bryan Austin Gillison. Viewed at Antioch Unioversity in SBIFF 2016.

“It’s all about our hustle and that’s it”

 

Tangerine is a film about friendship. This is also a film about betrayal, loyalty, hard work, nerve and charisma. Set on a single iconic street in LA, we follow a pair of sex workers as they navigate through trials that will test their friendship to its core. This film is a collection of touching, enlightening, amusing, and raw character portraits shot with the energy of an action movie. If you are looking for fresh personalities, and stories with far too little representation in Hollywood, you’ve arrived at the right place. This is an intimate, honest, and unflinching portrait of LA and it’s underbelly. Even the variety of auxiliary characters (many of whom live the life they are portraying) create a mosaic of LA culture that many do not see beyond the glitter and glam of representational Hollywood.

 

Tangerine, named for the dominant sunset orange hue throughout the film, is revolutionary in a variety of ways. From the technology, to the script development, to the very stars of the film,Tangerine paves a new way for both more imaginative, as well as more honest cinema. Sean Baker shot this cutting edge film entirely on iPhones using only a few additional accessories such as audio recording equipment and a stabilizer. That information might give you the impression that the cinematography itself is of low quality, but you’d be wrong. The film is stunning. The tiny iPhone sensor easily catches the sunny warmth and dingy streets of LA in all their grime and glory as the edits cut between detail shots and swooping pans in a way that reminded me of Spun (2002). The use of the iPhone itself lent well to the cinema verte style of the film.

 

Sean Baker is an ethnographer of sorts. He goes into different communities and very sympathetically enters into their worldview and way of life in order to craft a complex and truthful story. The script was developed working closely with actual sex workers and members of the Armenian community in LA. Often the very people that helped develop the story were offered starring roles in the film, setting a new president in genuine storytelling. In a cinema environment where cisgender individuals are being cast to play the precious few transgender roles available, it is important we move towards an understanding that these men and women should have a chance to tell their own story. They should get an actual voice, not the caricatures we have seen so many minorities receive in the past for the sake of entertainment. Sean Baker’s passion for brave and refreshing storytelling with serious integrity is an inspiration in itself. Oh man, did these fine women deliver! The film is oozing with dynamic and gripping performances.

 

If you’re looking for something fresh and real in the world of remakes, or if you are looking for something trustworthy in a world of white washed Stonewall movies, this film is for you. Do not take this to mean the film is depressing. Tangerine handles serious situations with a brightness of heart and resilience of spirit. Comedy can be used to create sympathy and understanding, it can break down walls of hatred. This film evokes the raw energy and powerful potential of storytelling by attacking both xenophobia and transphobia with heart and humor. Tangerine is about friendship; it’s spreading greater understanding through a gripping and hilarious story many of us have been desperately waiting to hear from the right people.

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Published:
02.19.16 / 11am
Category:
Films, Santa Barbara Film Festival 2016