Tangerine
Although ‘Tangerine’ came out last year, it wasn’t until starting my cinema studies class earlier this year that I heard about it. IMDB’s premise for the film ‘A working girl tears through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart.’ hardly summarises this remarkable film.
The entire film was shot on three iPhone 5s’s, which is only one of the ways it challenges our accepted notion of what film is and how it should be made. The use of footage from a mobile phone makes the film seem a lot more realistic and intimate, you feel more connected to the character through the use of this personal device to capture them. While the visual quality of the film obviously isn’t as high definition as it would be using a typical camera, the film offers some truly stunning visuals. The title ‘tangerine’ was inspired by the colour of the LA sky that the crew captured during filming. Seeing this film reminded me of my experience during project brief two when I used my phone, an iPhone 6s,to film my footage. Although my phone has a better camera, there is no doubt ‘Tangerine’ has more impressive visuals which suggests to me that sometimes it doesn’t matter what you’re filming with as long as you know how to use it well.
Another thing that, sadly in 2016, stood out to me was how good it was to see trans women playing trans characters. I say sadly in 2016 as this really shouldn’t be a remarkable casting choice, it should be a given, but unfortunately that’s not the reality we live in.
My favourite scene in the film is the closing one. The two main characters, Alexandra and Sin-Dee, having both had an absolutely awful, friendship threatening day, sit together in a laundromat. This really simple moment highlights the strength and importance of female friendship which is lovely to see captured so accurately on film.
Overall, I’d give ‘Tangerine’ a 9/10.