Tangerine 

Tangerine follows the story of Sin-Dee Rella and Alexandra who are both transgender sex workers. While sitting together Alexandra reveals to Sin-Dee that while she was in jail for 28 days her boyfriend/pimp Chester had been cheating on her. Sin-Dee spends the entire day on a warpath to find out who Chester had been cheating on her with. Alexandra spends the day following Sin-Dee and providing sexual services to men along the way.

I was surprised to learn that while Tangerine’s budget was $100,000 it grossed nearly 1 million dollars. This unconventional film was full of sex, transgender characters, and prostitution. All topics could be considered highly unconventional.

In Manohla Dargis’ review, he states that, unlike many films about coming out or an identity crisis,

“Tangerine” doesn’t dive deep into transgender identity; the movie is a dizzy, often exuberant down-and-dirty romp, not a lesson.

Unlike many movies, Tangerine does not seem to have a moral of the story or a lesson. It is more like stepping into the lives of two transgender prostitutes so their life could be understood.

I was not a big fan of the film. It was more like a reality TV show than a movie to me. I didn’t find the plot or the characters very interesting at all. However, Tangerine had some beautiful images despite being filmed in dirty and dark Los Angeles. There were plenty of scenes that had beautiful and vibrant colors in the background. One of my favorites is when Alexandra and Sin-Dee are walking through LA while Sin-Dee was on her warpath. In this snapshot, every color is really vibrant and very detailed which you wouldn’t expect from a film which is, according to the article Film of the week: Tangerine, filmed with an I-phone with only a few modifications.

The final scene is where the true comedic moments happen. One of the characters is confronted by his mother in law and the mother in law accuses him of smoking week with the occupants of the shop (Sin-Dee, Alexandra, Chester, and Dinah). When the taxi driver asks Chester to tell his mother in law he does not smoke his week Chester tells the mother in law that the taxi driver is not smoking weed with them but he is having sex with his ‘bitches’. That made me snort my drink and was officially my favorite line in the whole movie.

In response to the question: Is it stereotypical? In David Opie’s article, he says,

depicting trans women as loud-mouthed sex workers is a cliche that cinema should start veering away from, but the team behind Tangerine dives far deeper here, exploring the everyday reality of trans sex workers without patronizing them or sensationalizing their story. By casting trans POC and including them in the creative process, Baker shines a more authentic light on a group that’s hugely marginalized even within the LGBTQ community.

I have not seen too many movies featuring transgender characters or sex workers. However, I have seen enough to know that sex workers are nearly always portrayed as overly confident and as Opie says, ‘loud-mouthed’.  Tangerine does not hold back on showing the nitty gritty and the less glamorous life of a sex worker. I appreciate that actual transwomen are cast as the leads which are relatively uncommon. I did think it was interesting that Tangerine, according to Peter Debruge’s article, was originally turned down because the director would have been a white man (Sean Baker). Fortunately, Tangerine was eventually created with Sean Baker as the director.

Zero Dark Thirty

Zero Dark Thirty takes place after the events of 9/11 and during the hunt for Bin Laden. It follows Maya who is one of the female CIA operatives working to find Bin Laden to stop the terrorist attacks. Years later a nighttime strike is launched leading to the death of Bin Laden. Zero Dark Thirty is based on actual events.

The trailer had a series of quick-cut scenes and ominous music that drew me into the film in the first place. It gave me the impression that there would be a mix of politics and action. I was pleasantly surprised to be correct and I ended up loving this movie.

The film had amazing soundtracks and lighting that made the film artistically pleasing. Many scenes were set with dark backgrounds but the lighting was always perfect. In the scene below there was an eery silence before a piece of slow music that makes your heart beat with anticipation slowly filling your ears. It was one of the many things that made this film so amazing.

The film begins with very graphic torture scenes. The scene pulls you straight into the film with no funny business anywhere. It shows the seriousness of the situation and the need to find Bin Laden and save people. The torture scenes ended up causing a lot of controversies in the USA about the methods to find Bin Laden. According to Raid these facts about the thrilling Zero Dark Thirty the

Acting CIA Director Michael Morell released a statement as regards the torture scenes depicted in the film, claiming that although the production team had met with the CIA pre-filming, the film was a dramatization and ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ were not significant in the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

Also according to the article  Zero Dark Thirty — Torture Is the American Way? the critic states that the amount of torture used in the film is inaccurate and that American’s never used torture to find Bin Laden. When it comes to things involving the government it can never be certain whether or not torture is used. I find it hard to believe that Bin Laden would be found without torture.

According to  Arts Council presents ‘Zero Dark Thirty,’ the original plan for the film was to be based on the failed attempts to find Bin Laden. Fortunately, Bin Laden was killed before filming started and they changed the film’s screenplay to be the about the successful hunt.

Differences and Similarities

Despite being filmed with a phone Tangerine did not have a large presence of technology aside from an occasional cell phone. Zero Dark Thirty, on the other hand, had CGI in the film, helicopters, explosives, large computers, etc. It was filled with technology.

Both films seem to dive into life rather than contain a lesson. Tangerine focuses on a day in the life of a transgender prostitute. Zero Dark Thirty focuses on several years of Maya’s hunt for Osama Bin Laden.

The films both grossed much more than their budget. Zero Dark Thirty with a budget of 40 million dollars grossed about 133 million dollars. Tangerine with a budget of $100,000 grossed about 1 million dollars. Both films were very successful.

Both films had beautiful and artistic imagery along with graphic and inappropriate images. Tangerine shows oral sex and nudity. Zero Dark Thirty shows graphic torture including waterboarding, humiliation, sleep deprivation techniques, etc.

I would recommend Tangerine for someone who is interested in social issues. On the other hand, I would recommend Zero Dark Thirty for anyone who is interested in history, 9/11, and politics/government. I would watch Zero Dark Thirty over and over again but I think watching Tangerine once was enough for me.

Sources

 

Tangerine

Manohla Dargis’

Film of the week: Tangerine,

final scene

David Opie’s

Peter Debruge’s article,

Zero Dark Thirty

trailer

torture scenes

Raid these facts about the thrilling Zero Dark Thirty

Zero Dark Thirty — Torture Is the American Way?

Arts Council presents ‘Zero Dark Thirty,’