Review of A Fantastic Woman (2017) by Dave M — 11 Mar 2018

"A Fantastic Woman" (R, 1:44) is 2017 drama and was Chile's entry into the Foreign Language category at the 90th Annual Academy Awards, where it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

Marina Vidal (Daniela Vega) is a transgender woman whose partner, Orlando (Francisco Reyes), is a divorced man who is old enough to be her father. The two seem to be very much in love, as evidenced by their behavior during an evening of dinner and dancing, which ends with a passionate embrace and lead-in to a love-making session (off camera) in the Santiago, Chile apartment where they both live (since Marina recently moved in). When Orlando wakes up in the midst of a serious medical episode, falls down a flight of stairs and then dies shortly after Marina gets him to the hospital, her life is turned upside down (and inside out) even more than it would be for most people when they lose a loved one.

The rest of the movie follows Marina as she tries to do the right thing and maintain her dignity amidst questions and challenges from Orlando's relatives - and others. The police want to know why Orlando's body had minor injuries and they go as far as to ask Marina intimate details about her sex life - and her sexuality. Orlando's ex-wife wants Orlando's car turned over to her - and ends up using her meeting with Marina to callously insult her. Orlando's son wants her (immediately) out of the apartment that she shared with Orlando. Lastly, Orlando's family and friends, as a group, (with one notable exception) make it crystal clear that they want her to stay away from her deceased lover's memorial service and funeral.

"A Fantastic Woman" is a well-made and important film, solidly written, terrifically acted, timely and never more relevant. Directed by Sebastián Lelio and written by Lelio and Gonzalo Meza, the story concentrates on Marina, as a person, especially her humanity and her basic decency. The film makes no judgments about her lifestyle, treating it simply as a fact of her life, while showing challenges she faces living her life and being who she is. She asks for nothing from anyone, except for respect, which she increasingly demands throughout the film, not so much with her words as with her actions. The movie shows little, while saying much, although it does occasionally lose its focus (as with an unsatisfying subplot about a mysterious key). Calling the main character or the film in which she appears "fantastic" may be a bit of a stretch, but they are both remarkable and worthy of our attention - and respect. "A-".