Tangerine (2015)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Tangerine (2015) – S. Baker

A shocked response to the over-the-top people and events in this film gradually gives way to a feeling that the director’s main goal is to present an unfamiliar subculture, without judgment (or even analysis), to a more mainstream audience.  The subculture is that of a group of Hollywood transgender prostitutes who turn tricks, do drugs, fight with each other, fuss about their wigs and make-up, and deal with problems in their relationships (including cheating) as best they can.  Director Sean Baker shot the film using iPhones, but you can’t really tell (apart from a general low-budget on-location feel), and the seedy streets of Los Angeles often look stunning, bathed in the tangerine light that gives the film its title.  Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor play the two central characters, both actually trans females who provide a strong degree of authenticity to the film, and the way they maintain their friendship throughout the “drama” is the main theme of the film.  All around them seems to be unstable, even chaos – but this may be the world to which those who are extremely stigmatised may be relegated.  Poverty, exclusion, and violence seem commonplace but somehow these women maintain their optimism and determination (even if sometimes misguided).  A subplot follows an Armenian taxi driver who patronises the girls despite having a wife and family of his own (who are horrified to learn about his extra-marital affairs); this provides another contrast between acceptance and non-acceptance. It is hard to tell too whether they are being exploited or loved by their pimp, Chester (James Ransone) whose cheating is the engine that drives the plot.  Eye-opening and definitely not for the timid!