Review: Tangerine
Tangerine unfolds over the course of one Christmas Eve, a time traditionally dominated by chaotic discord and a generosity of spirit. Though the film is fueled by those dueling yet strangely compatible moods, it is anything but traditional in the characters that populate this unconventional holiday fable.
Sin-Dee (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) and Alexandra (Mya Taylor) are catching up at a local Donut Time in Los Angeles. Sin-Dee has just served a 28-day stint in jail, and she's eager to share some news with her best friend. Alexandra, anticipating the news, congratulates her for finally kicking out her cheating boyfriend Chester (James Ransone). This is news to Sin-Dee, whose rage goes from zero to sixty upon learning that he has been two-timing her with a "real fish" (a girl "with a vagina and everything"). She stomps out of the Donut Time with volcanic force, intent on hunting down her wayward man.
Did I mention that Sin-Dee and Alexandra are transgender prostitutes and Chester is a pimp? One of the many wonders of writer-director Sean Baker's film is its wide-open embrace of his lead characters, who would be treated as "other" in most mainstream movies but are shown in all their flamboyant and normal glory. Tangerine is unabashed in its adoration of Sin-Dee and Alexandra - and why not for the first-time actresses are phenomenal and magnetic presences - but it is also that rare film that depicts these two women and other marginalised individuals with warmth, compassion, and insight without whitewashing the hardships and discrimination that is part of their everyday lives.
Sin-Dee is an absolute firecracker, singleminded in her quest. When Alexandra tries to talk her down by listing all of Chester's bad qualities ("When I walk into [his] room, it shouldn't always smell like homeless."), all she ends up doing is redirecting Sin-Dee's fury to Chester's piece on the side, Dinah (Mickey O'Hagan), a pale ragamuffin whom Sin-Dee drags out of the sex motel she works in and hauls along the sidewalks of downtown Los Angeles. Alexandra, who had warned Sin-Dee against any display of drama, has already gone her own way at this point. She may be the calmer of the two, but she is no less fierce. When a customer tries to renege on her, she goes after him and warns, "Don't forget you're not the only one with a dick." Tangerine brims with funny moments derived from hilarious one-liners and situations such as the pair of patrol cops idly witnessing a tussle; one of the cops can't even be bothered to step out of the car to resolve the situation, choosing to sigh orders through a megaphone from inside the vehicle.
Also in the mix is Armenian cab driver Razmik (Karren Karagulian), whose motley crew of fares serve as comic relief from the intensity of Sin-Dee and Alexandra's respective dramas. Yet Razmik is soon further woven into the narrative - he's a long-term john of Alexandra's (their coupling in his cab as it goes through a car wash has a surprising loveliness and poignancy) who may harbour a crush on Sin-Dee. He also happens to be married. When his suspicious mother-in-law tracks him down to the Donut Time where all of the various characters have converged, Tangerine explodes into a screwball collision of races, genders, and cultures. Sparring individuals forge momentary allegiances as Chester, Dinah, Sin-Dee, and Alexandra egg on Razmik's mother-in-law. In a separate scene, Sin-Dee and Dinah bond over a crack pipe; Sin-Dee later touches up Dinah's face.
The film is frequently brash and loud, but it pierces in its softer moments, such as Alexandra crooning Victor Herbert's "Toyland" to a virtually deserted night club. Its ending is especially wonderful - the offering of a wig and the adjusting of a fallen strap turn into potent gestures of friendship and solidarity.
Additionally noteworthy is the film's technical innovation. Shot solely on Apple iPhone 5s cameras equipped with anamorphic adapters, Tangerine's visuals possess a raw yet professional aesthetic that belies its low-budget. The DIY approach lends an intimate, on-the-fly atmosphere as it follows its cast past vibrant, saturated surroundings and in and out of a procession of mundane locations - the pivotal Donut Time, laundromats, car washer, seedy motels, and even seedier streets.
Tangerine
Directed by: Sean Baker
Written by: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch
Starring: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, James Ransone, Mickey O'Hagan
