Tangerine (2015)

Tangerine is an absorbing, funny, shocking and visceral piece of cinema.

Tangerine is a visually stunning tour de force in inventive cinematography.

Tangerine is an acting master-class containing multiple outstanding performances.

Tangerine is a bold and fearless film covering such a topical and sensitive subject.

Tangerine was shot on an Iphone for almost no budget.

Co-written and directed by Sean Baker, the film was first shown at the Sundance Film Festival and became a break-out hit with critics and audiences alike. It stars Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor as two transgender prostitutes; with the narrative beginning just after Rodriguez's character 'Sin-Dee' had been released from prison. Multiple stories are intertwined with Rodriguez searching for her allegedly cheating boyfriend; Taylor helping and also inviting friends to her performance at a club; and a Serbian Taxi driver whose use of transgender prostitutes is threatening to tear his family apart.

The performances from the two leads are both outstanding - adding multiple layers to these characters who could easily be viewed as cartoonish - with Kitana Kiki Rodriguez especially shining in one of the best and most complex portrayals of the year.

Sean Baker works wonders with his mostly inexperienced cast; crafting an extremely compelling and realistic drama with such a low budget. He helps to provide arguably the key ingredient in Tangerine: the vivacity. The film contains a raw, unabashed, vibrant energy that flows through the script, direction, acting and cinematography; helping to make Tangerine one of the best and most endlessly watchable films of the year. It is occasionally quite graphic in its depiction of prostitution on the streets of LA but this is necessary to create an accurate and realistic portrayal of quite a controversial and topical issue.

A brilliant and powerful piece of cinema and a marvel of independent film-making.

By Jack