A Fantastic Woman (Una Mujer Fantástica)
 (2017)
Drama, Queer Themes/Interest
In Collection
#877
8*
Seen ItYes
(10/31/2019 Home)
5021866846309
IMDB   7.2
104 mins USA / English
DVD  Region 2
Francisco Reyes Orlando
Luis Gnecco Gabo
Aline Küppenheim Sonia
Amparo Noguera Adrian
Director
Sebastián Lelio
Writer/Composer Gonzalo Maza
Sebastián Lelio


Marina and Orlando are in love and planning for the future. Marina is a young waitress and aspiring singer. Orlando is 20 years older than her, and owns a printing company. After celebrating Marina's birthday one evening, Orlando falls seriously ill. Marina rushes him to the emergency room, but he passes away just after arriving at the hospital. Instead of being able to mourn her lover, suddenly Marina is treated with suspicion. The doctors and Orlando's family don't trust her. A woman detective investigates Marina to see if she was involved in his death. Orlando's ex-wife forbids her from attending the funeral. And to make matters worse, Orlando's son threatens to throw Marina out of the flat she shared with Orlando. Marina is a trans woman and for most of Orlando's family, her sexual identity is an aberration, a perversion. So Marina struggles for the right to be herself. She battles the very same forces that she has spent a lifetime fighting just to become the woman she is now - a complex, strong, forthright and fantastic woman.
Edition Details
Original Title Una Mujer Fantástica
Release Date 2017
No. of Discs/Tapes 1
Personal Details
Purchase Date 10/9/2019
Location Personal Library
Owner Deitz
Store Amazon Marketplace - RAREWAVES-IMPORTS.
Purchase Price $17.67
Condition New
Order Order Number: 112-9976860-4816269
Tags family, transgender
Links +10/10 Review: QueerGuru (Roger Walker-Dack February 13th, 2018)
+4½/5 Review: Roger Ebert (Sheila O'Malley February 2, 2018)
+3/3 Review: CGiii (Anderson Cutler)
+ Review: Plaza Cinema (Campbell Dalglish, 2018)
+ Review: Hollywood Reporter
Out: #10 ‡ 15 Greatest Queer Sex Scenes in Film History
Rotten Tomatoes
References
Lists ‡ Rotten Tomatoes: 200 Best LGBT Movies of All Time
Festivals & Awards Academy Awards 89th (2017)
QueerGuru Rating 10
Rotten Critics Rating % (2021) 94
Rotten Best Queer #1-200 (2021) 11

Notes
I had postponed watching A Fantastic Woman. released in 2017, because I expected it to be another strident advocacy film - marching in the streets, confrontation with "powers and principalities,." I have nothing against advocacy films. They have been in the forefront of the queer liberation movement. But often, while wanting to persauade the unbelievers, they are actually being viewed only by believers.
I finally decided that I had to get on with it though. Watched it the other night. And was very pleasantly surprised. Director Almodover has presented a very personal story of a woman very much in love with and deeply loved by an older man. He dies suddenly, virtually in her arms. She experiences extreme grief, and is thwarted (assaulted?) in here ability to resolve her grief.
Well deserved as 2018 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.