After watching Woman in Fantasy (Una Mujer Fantástica, 2017), I think that Sebastian Lelio is trying to portray a mundane and magical person by telling a most traditional story with the help of artistic techniques and figurative symbols. Transgender, her inner struggles, and her place in Chilean society.
Marina faces three layers of pressure throughout the story. The first is her anxious need to seek reassurance from others to strengthen her self-identity; the second is the pressure of estrangement from her lover Orlando's ex-family; and the last is undoubtedly the pressure of fear of others and transphobia, with the hostility that prevails in Chilean society.
On a personal level, Marina is fully self-identified, and her female identity is recognized and absorbed by herself, but is often threatened when she encounters the outside world. Maria is restrained, calm, and her actions and words are dignified and graceful, almost an emotional tactic to help her face the hostility she receives and hopefully maintain her self-identity. Doctors expressed skepticism and confusion about Marina's sexuality and name, which had nothing to do with Orlando's death. This suspicion was further escalated when Marina ran away with a panic attack. Suddenly, the escape symbolizes an act of curiosity that may have something to do with the truth of Orlando's death, just because Marina's sexuality is ambiguous. The police came, the detectives found her, everyone was picking on her name, every time Marina needed to emphasize her pronoun. These tormenting questions break her down, and we can see Marina bravely choosing to endure the hostility and stand her ground, but we also see her breaking down at home, looking for an outlet to release her emotions.
Marina's only goal and wish is to say goodbye to her lover. However, this seemingly only reasonable and deserved wish was intercepted by Orlando's former family and institutional authorities. His son Bruno, who lived in the apartment, later violently harassed her with his friend with acrophobia; his ex-wife Sonia alienated Marina, banned her from funerals, and verbally insulted her as a "chimera." The police, Detective Adriana, doctors and medical examiners, all exercised their power over Marina, who was not sullied, but as a minority she was just a trans woman and powerless. In the face of all the hatred, she chose to endure, digest, and solve the problem with her gentle attitude and means. She has no support from society, she can only rely on herself, she is just an ordinary woman, she has no dominance in the surrounding environment. However, Marina managed to survive the chaos. She managed to find her inner strength, she climbed into the car and demanded the return of her dog, she tried twice to break into the ritual, and her love eventually led her to Orlando. The magic of Marina is that she is an ordinary woman, not privileged in her society, who has the ability to find herself after a breakdown, heal herself, and move on with life.
The cinematography of this film is very interesting. What caught my eye was the colors and lighting in Fantasy Woman. Red is warm and deep and represents intense love. The first part is the light with red tones, Marina and Orlando meet in a club, red surrounds them; the shade of yellow is the feeling of devaluation, Marina has lost Orlando, the street lights cover her; blue is calm, pure, sincere and Rational, blue is used extensively in the later parts of the film to symbolize the temperature of Marina's choices and actions. Mirrors are used frequently in the film. Whether it's the large mirror she encounters on the street or the small mirror she places between her thighs, viewers are drawn to the direction of their gaze every time she stares at it. In these staring-in-the-mirror episodes, the viewer sees Marina go through a mental process of self-identification, and these reflections not only connect us to Marina's mental state, but also provide the viewer with a reflection on her previous episodes space for what has been experienced. Marina's hallucinations of seeing Orlando's soul, her leaning against strong winds, and the surreal episode of her free performance as a lead dancer in a nightclub are all descriptions of Marina's emotional state and her psychological struggles. These artistic methods help viewers like me to connect more with the protagonist and to flow better with the plot.
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