Vega ‘Fantastic’ in transgender drama
An Academy Awardnominee for best foreign language film, Chile’s “A Fantastic Woman” takes the film noir femme fatale figure and gives her a twist. The film tells the story of a woman, in this case, a transgender woman named Marina Vidal (the remarkable trans person Daniela Vega), who faces the full wrath of the orthodox Chilean family of the older man she loved and lived with after he dies, as his disapproving family legally takes over the dead lover’s funeral, estate and other proceedings.
In this version of the story, the perilous woman is not a killer, schemer or gold digger, but a younger, onetime biological man who lives and identifies as a woman. Director-co-writer Sebastian Lelio is, along with such Chilean filmmakers as Pablo Larrain (“Jackie”), considered one of the most important post-dictatorship figures in Chilean film. Lelio’s previous film, the glorious, olderwoman romance “Gloria” (2013), with Chilean film and theater star Paulina Garcia, was another awards contender.
In opening scenes of “A Fantastic Woman,” we meet Marina (Vega), who often gazes into a mirror, as if searching for herself, and her older lover, Orlando (Francisco Reyes of Larrain’s “The Club”). Marina is a waitress who sings with a band in a nightclub and lights up when Orlando appears. Together, they go to the flat they share and make passionate love.
In the night, Orlando is suddenly stricken. Marina gets him to a hospital, but he dies, and there she meets the first of many quizzical and disapproving looks. (She is addressed by her birth name.) She learns she has no rights regarding the man she loves and who loved her.
Orlando has an adult son who threatens to evict Marina against his dead father’s wishes. A detective investigates to determine Marina’s possible role in Orlando’s death. Because Orlando suffered injuries in a fall, Marina must endure a mortifying physical examination. Orlando’s ex-wife refuses to allow Marina to attend the funeral, something Marina will turn into a personal triumph worthy of Susan Hayward.
Marina may be a “fantastic woman,” but she has no legal standing whatsoever as Orlando’s transgender lover, and the walls and battlements of Orlando’s family’s legal fortress rise up to keep this almost mythological siren out. In the face of almost every humiliation, Marina remains resolute, dignified and finally enraged.
“A Fantastic Woman” has been compared to Kimberly Peirce’s ground-breaking “Boys Don’t Cry.” But it also has obvious roots in Latin telenovelas, a genre known for exploring groundbreaking and taboo sociological issues. Vega, a scheduled Oscar presenter whose name popped up in awards contests this year, is riveting as Marina. If you came to this film “cold,” you might not understand Orlando’s family’s treatment of Marina. Even when you know, it is completely