Una Mujer Fantástica (A Fantastic Woman)
Chilean cinema is having a great moment; not only Pablo Larraín managed a spectacular crossover directing Natalie Portman in Jackie, a full group of new names is giving hope to a growing national scene: Pepa San Martín, Moisés Sepúlveda and Alex Anwandter, just to name a few. But in between those newcomers and the cult that Larrain has already achieved, we find Sebastián Lelio, a guy that has nailed awards at Berlin Film Festival twice in a row, Best Actress for Gloria in 2013, and Best Screenplay at this year's edition for Una Mujer Fantástica.
The exploration of femininity in unconventional ways ties his two last films: Gloria was an older woman giving a new shot at dating and partying, and Marina, in a Fantastic Woman, is a transexual woman in the aftermath of her lovers' death. This understanding of women in a broader range than what media usually presents is what sets him apart from other directors, and brings him closer to what Pedro Almodovar, Todd Haynes or Michael Haneke have achieved before him.
Pretty much, A Fantastic Woman is a study of identity. Immersed in a society that constantly challenges her own perception of the "self", the main character is subjected to humiliations aimed at breaking her and deny her right to be an individual; it's a society that destroys what crosses the borders of what they have arbitrarily set as normal. If the challenges that Marina has to face might be a very Manichaean way to exhibit a rotten conservative society, the triumph of this movie consists in avoiding a melodramatic suffering of the character's circumstances (think of Lee Daniels' Precious), but instead reacting to them in a human way, allowing the character to demonstrate its emotional depth with actions that force her to come with another identity confrontation: the one that she makes of herself. Daniela Vega offers a great performance that enhances the character's uniqueness.
But Lelio is amazing in translating the internal fight that Marina faces into beautiful and powerful images. From a strong wind that almost makes her fly into the air, to a neon-colored dance sequence, poetic licenses are taken to enhance the visual style of the film. But, above all, it is this identity quest that is portrayed along the film through the use of mirrors and reflections and through the direct glances by Marina into the camera, that forces us to set a position and question whether we'd be any different to that society that suffocates her.
Beautiful and painful, A Fantastic Woman is an important film that targets the rights and the perception of transgender people. Battles have been won, but we're still far away from a real recognition of them as full individuals in their own right and equal to any cisgender person. Lelio wants to give hope to Marina, but when we believe that a reward for her stoicism will be found, it turns to be something dark and empty. Her redemption doesn't come through gifts, it comes through a hard earned respect.
