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At first glance, Tangerine resembles a debut film. Shot on an iPhone and featuring two first-timers in the leading roles, Sean Baker's fifth feature is full of creative decisions that would appear to be borne purely of financial necessity. Some of them were—the writer-director is on record saying he would have preferred shooting on film. But what makes Baker in general, and Tangerine in particular, so worthwhile is the unique ability of everyone involved to work within, and ultimately transcend, these limitations.
Taking place one sunny Christmas Eve, the film is led by two transgender prostitutes whom we first meet as they commune in the window seat of a Hollywood doughnut shop. Sin-Dee (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) is fresh out of jail after a 28-day stint and looking for her pimp boyfriend. She's excited to see him, until Alexandra (Mya Taylor) spills the beans that the low-level hustler was unfaithful while Sin-Dee was behind bars. The quest narrative that follows is often hilarious, with Alexandra reluctantly agreeing to help her excitable bestie track down the other woman, whose name no one can quite remember (though everyone seems to agree it starts with the letter D).
Baker gives a more ground-level view of Los Angeles than in any other movie in recent years. Sin-Dee and Alexandra's journey traces geographically accurate walking distances and bus routes as they trek from the doughnut shop to a laundromat to a seedy motel, constantly running into people who feel like true-to-life cartoon characters. Like everything else in Tangerine, the people who inhabit these marginalized spaces are defined by what might be called an over-the-top naturalism. Baker explores their world without exploiting it, immersing us in an entirely new environment that's built from authentic parts.
In its unrestrained verve and verite approach, Tangerine is constantly threatening to jump off the screen and get in your face. Laughs abound, but so do moments of silent understanding in what's ultimately an exploration of friendships that form between people with no one else to care about. Sin-Dee is constantly escalating situations beyond their breaking point and Alexandra isn't the most loyal friend, but their bond hinges on genuine love and affection. That may not sound like much, but when everything else unravels, it's more than enough.
SEE IT: Tangerine is rated R. It opens Friday at Cinema 21. GRADE A
WWeek 2015