Screenings
- Vechtclub XL – Utrecht
Tangerine
- long
- 88'
- English spoken
The most summery and explosive Christmas movie ever. On the streets in and around Hollywood, the sunset glows bright orange all year round – hence the title. On Christmas Eve, two transgender women tear through the backstreets of L.A.
Tangerine was filmed entirely on the iPhone 5s. Three iPhones, to be precise, equipped with a new prototype lens-adapter, some software that cost a few dollars, and a holder to stabilize the image. That’s all, folks. This stunning film was made with a device that almost all of us carry around in our pocket every day.
The ultra low budget production is the most talked about aspect of Tangerine – director Sean Baker made his film for about the budget Michael Bay spends on toothpicks. But that is far from the most interesting thing about this jumpy, taboo-busting, poignant screwball comedy for the 21st century, about two transgender women on the fringes of tinseltown. What’s more: if there’s one thing Tangerine proves, it’s that (despite the promises of the digital revolution) a masterpiece like this remains unattainable and unique, no matter how accessible the means to make it may be.
The style goes perfectly with the content: beauty on a budget in the capital of the global beauty industry.
Even more importantly: in this case the style goes perfectly with the content. Transgender prostitutes Sin-Dee and Alexandra are also making the best of things with very limited means: beauty on a budget in the capital of the global beauty industry.
In the first and last scenes of the film, we see the two together in intimate moments – in a donut shop where they share a treat, and in a launderette where they try to scrub off the grit of the world. In the ninety minutes in between, they tear, sometimes together but more often separately, through L.A., looking for revenge, lust, love and recognition.
Joost Broeren (translation by Marjan Westbroek)
