Sebastian Lelio’s A Fantastic Woman depicts the plight of a transwoman, who has just lost her lover, against societal adversities. It is hard to believe that a transwoman is not given her due respect even in the twenty-first century. Bidding adieu to a loved one for the final time is a basic human right. It is disheartening to see a person is forbidden to attend the funeral of her lover and partner just because she is a transwoman and not legally married. The woman is even insulted and defamed by doctors and police officials. In spite of being tormented, the woman does not harm anybody and treats everybody with respect. Sebastian Lelio’s A Fantastic Woman is a tragic humane story.
A Fantastic Woman is a fantastic story of a transwoman Marina (Daniela Vega), who is a bar singer and waitress. She is romantically linked to Orlando (Francisco Reyes), a textile mill owner, and recently moved in with him. Orlando celebrates Marina’s birthday and gives her a surprise gift – a flight ticket to visit Iguazu Falls. Marina is overwhelmed by the love and care shared by Orlando. The two make love at night. However, Marina’s happiness does not last long. Orlando wakes up at midnight with severe chest pain and falls on the stairs, which injures his head and bruises his body. Marina drives him to a hospital, where he is declared dead due to a brain aneurysm. Marina’s dreamworld is shattered overnight. This unfortunate incident pushes her to an uncertain future.
A heartbroken Marina leaves the hospital and calls Orlando’s brother Gabo. Police officials pick her up, drive back to the hospital, and repeatedly ask her why she has left the hospital. They suspect her and check her identity card. Marina has not received her new identity card after her operation. So, her name on the identity card still shows her old name, Daniel. The police officials humiliate her by calling her ‘Sir’. Gabo arrives and testimonies her innocence to the police. Finally, Marina is allowed to take Orlando’s car and drive back home. Orlando’s ex-wife Sonia calls Marina and tells her to hand over the car at the parking lot.
A detective named Adriana visits Marina at her workplace and inquires about if there was any fight between Her and Orlando. Adriana suspects that Orlando was using Marina as a sex worker and the bruises on his body happened because of a fight between the two over sexual intercourse. Marina rejects the allegation and reports to the police station the next day. She is humiliated, insulted, and photographed naked to prove her innocence. She returns to Orlando’s flat, where Orlando’s son Bruno arrives, humiliates her with personal questions like which surgery she had undergone, and takes the dog away.
Marina parks the car at the parking lot that Sonia communicated earlier. Sonia asks her to vacate the flat and not to attend Orlando’s funeral ceremony. Despite Sonia’s objection, Marina arrives at the ceremony, but Sonia insults and ousts her. Bruno and his gang accost Marina, assault her physically, threaten her, and then drops her on an alleyway. After reading a newspaper report, Marina goes to the graveyard and sees Sonia’s car. This time she confronts Sonia and Bruno strongly and demands for the dog. Following an employee of the crematorium, she is finally able to see Orlando’s body and bid goodbye for the final time. Marina gets the dog back. In the last scene, Marina is seen singing an opera in a packed auditorium.
A Fantastic Woman is a trans-genre film. It deals with multiple genres one after another. The film starts with a dream world of a transwoman with her lover, it turns into a tragedy, it shows fantasies in between, it also creates suspense, and it ends with the scene where Marina sings an opera, and she is able to cope up with the current situation. So, the film is not unilateral, rather it has multiple dimensions. A Fantastic Woman is a dynamic film. The film not only depicts the plight of a transwoman but also shows how she defies all the odds and wins. LGBTQ rights are violated not only in a particular country but across the world. So, this film not only highlights the social Injustice to the trans people in Chile but also places the entire world under the scanner.
Strong measures are not taken for the violators. It is utterly disturbing to see that a woman is photographed naked to prove her innocence. It is dangerous to see that police officers and detectives, who are supposed to maintain the laws and orders, are the violators. The world sees many such instances every day. A woman is not even allowed to bid adieu to her lover just because they are not legally married. Basic human rights are violated every now and then. A Fantastic Woman portrays the plight of a transwoman as well as a woman.
Sebastian Lelio wanted to make a film about a person who has just lost her loved one in his or her arms. Eventually, the person is selected to be a transwoman. Initially, Daniela Vega came on board as a consultant, and she was selected to play the protagonist Marina a year later. Vega is the central figure of the story. There is not a scene in the film where Vega is not present on the screen. She is sensitive and mesmerizing throughout the film. Sebastian Lelio’s direction is dynamic, sensitive, and restraint. He successfully blends multiple aspects of the story like a tragedy, fantasy, suspense, and romance. Lelio’s maturity as a visionary filmmaker is visible thoroughly on the screen.
Sebastian Lelio and Gonzalo Maza wrote the screenplay, which strongly and clearly depicts the plight of a transwoman, and it won the Silver Bear award for Best Original Screenplay at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival. Cinematographer Benjamin Echazarreta uses the magnitude of multiple colors. Frames are filled with red, blue, green, and other colors. The colors represent the moods of the film. A Fantastic Woman competed as a nominee for Golden Bear at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival, and it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards.