Tangerine Reflection
Upon learning that Tangerine was about the lives of transgender prostitutes on Christmas Eve, I assumed Sean Baker’s film would reflect a parody-like style. However, the film proved to be a truly unique experience both in story and technique.
Being shot on an IPhone 5, Tangerine offers a perfect blend of an intimate and cinematic feel as the quality offers both an up-close perspective and a movielike widescreen look. This also enables the viewer to consider the meaning of the film’s title, which although is never explicitly mentioned, the widescreen aspect lends a hand in highlighting the bright, almost overbearing orange sunsets and sepia tinted frames throughout the film. As the plot quickly unwinds, Baker’s cinematic technique makes the viewer feel as if the camera can’t even keep up with Alexandra and Sin-Dee as they rush around the streets of LA in a fierce and intimidating manner, constantly on a mission.
One of the most interesting aspects about Tangerine’s plot was examining the dynamics of Sin-Dee and Alexandra’s friendship. In the beginning of the film, Alexandra appears to be the much more mellow of the two. The viewer finds confirmation in this observation when Alexandra decides Sin-Dee is taking her search for her fiancé’s “other girl” Dinah too far, and decides to back out from this seemingly dangerous situation. Later when Sin-Dee finds Dinah in a motel room brothel, she doesn’t hesitate to pull her from her hair all around the streets of LA, something that Alexandra’s character doesn’t seem capable of. However, as the viewer continues to follow Alexandra on her daily “errands” it became apparent that labeling her as the more composed of the two girls is merely ostensible. The viewer sees how ruthless Alexandra truly is on two main occasions. The first is when she is unafraid to physically fight a much larger man when disagreeing over payment. The second is revealed during the climax of the film when Chester exposes their affair to Sin-Dee, a plot twist that seemed to be uncharacteristic of Alexandra. Overall, while both Sin-Dee and Alexandra go off on separate paths throughout the day, in the end they both prove to be more similar than different, Which is why it isn’t surprising when Sin-Dee ultimately forgives Alexandra for her mishap and proves that boys can never come between a powerful girl alliance.
