FEARLESS, POWERFUL, RAVISHING.
Marina Vidal (Daniela Vega) brings her suddenly ill, older boyfriend (Francisco Reyes) to the hospital where he dies of a brain aneurysm, sparking a conflict with his family who resents Marina, not least because she’s transgender. This film, not unlike director Sebastián Lelio’s Gloria (2013), which was also about a fantastic woman, brings us close to the mindset and challenges of Marina, a character intimately connected to the actress who plays her, demanding a lot from Vega who turns in a quietly fierce, bold performance. A deeply human drama about the need for respect and dignity, showing the insidious nature of Orlando’s family’s hatred.
2017-Chile-Germany-Spain-U.S. 104 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced by Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Sebastián Lelio, Gonzalo Maza. Directed by Sebastián Lelio. Screenplay: Sebastián Lelio, Gonzalo Maza. Cast: Daniela Vega (Marina Vidal), Francisco Reyes (Orlando Onetto Partier), Luis Gnecco (Gabriel Onetto Partier), Aline Küppenheim, Amparo Noguera, Nicolás Saavedra.
Trivia: Original title: Una mujer fantástica.
Oscar: Best Foreign Language Film. Berlin: Best Screenplay.
Last word: “It was more than questions [that Lelio was asking]. It was like a long conversation for close to a year. And it was more than him just asking ‘How do you do this?’ or ‘What happens here?’ It was more like a conversation between friends. Then he took all those conversations, processed them – and I didn’t know he was writing a script for me, really. So we talked and talked, and one day he arrived with the script. And the script included concepts we’d talked about.” (Vega, Slant Magazine)