Tangerine

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Sean Baker/Starring: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, Mickey O'Hagan, James Ransone and Clu Gulager

What visual limitations might there be for a movie filmed entirely on 3 iPhone 5s' with a meager budget of $100K? After seeing director Sean Baker's Tangerine, I think the answer might be: none, if imagination and a solid visual sense serve the filmmaker. Baker seems to possess both attributes in abundance and deploys them expertly. If one can glean any lessons from watching the endless parade of obesely-budgeted superhero movies this summer season, it is that big money, space-age effects and marquee actors seldom deliver quality entertainment. Unlike corporate Hollywood's bloated productions, Baker's film is fun, funny, touching and populated with characters who are fascinatingly real.

Set in the gritty streets of present day L.A., Tangerine tells the story of two transgender prostitutes named Sin-Dee (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) and Alexandra (Mya Taylor), who spend their days hustling on the city streets, which also means avoiding the police and sometimes hateful attacks. When the story begins, Sin-Dee and Alexandra are having a spirited conversation on Christmas Eve morning, inside a fast-food place. Sin-Dee, volatile and irascible, talks about Chester, the man she loves but who has been fooling around with a woman who she learns is named Dinah. While Sin-Dee's rage and wounded pride become catalysts for a cross-town odyssey to find Chester, Alexandra walks the street distributing flyers for a show she is to perform on Christmas Eve. A parallel narrative involves an Armenian cab-driver named Razmik (Karren Karagulian) whose offbeat and colorful clients sometimes try his patience, particularly two revelers who vomit in his cab. Another amusing fare involves a white man who waxes volubly about his Cherokee ancestry (Clu Gulager, who I've not seen in many years).

How the two transgender prostitutes and Razmik are connected isn't immediately obvious but as the story progresses, we see that Razmik has a passion for hustlers like Sin-Dee and Alexandra, in spite of having a wife at home. In one scene, Razmik propositions a prostitute, only to find she is a woman, leading to her immediate ejection from the vehicle.

Meanwhile, a man picks up Alexandra for a quick assignation. The scene becomes comical when the man reveals he only has forty dollars. The situation escalates into an argument, which spills out into the street. Their noisy fracas brings the unwanted attention of two cops sitting in their car, one of whom is quite familiar with Alexandra.

Meanwhile, Sin-Dee's furious search for Chester leads her all about town and into the company of pimps, drug-dealers and fellow transgenders.

Razmik manages to find Alexandra; we see the easy rapport the two share. The meeting quickly becomes a carnal transaction, which takes place inside a car-wash. What follows is one of the most visually-imaginative and beautifully-conceived scenes I've seen in a film in awhile. The windshield with soapy and watery cascades is so subtly sexual; it's clever without being self-consciously so.

Sin-Dee manages to track down Dinah (Mickey O'Hagan), who she finds inside a dirty, cheap motel room serving as an ad hoc brothel. We see Sin-Dee's prey; a young, emaciated blonde whose appearance speaks of ferocious drug-use and prostitution. Sin-Dee drags her (literally) out of the motel and across town in search of Chester and in the process Dinah becomes almost complicitous in her abduction.

In another scene, we see Razmik's home-life; a halcyon picture of holiday festivity as his mother-in-law, wife and daughter share a holiday meal with relatives. Eager to leave to attend Alexandra's show at a local nightclub, he fabricates a story about having to work. His departure draws protests from the gathering, particularly his mother-in-law, who suspects infidelity.

Razmik searches for Alexndra after missing her show but finds her at the doughnut shop where Sin-Dee confronts Chester. And while Razmik's presence has a negative impact on the proceedings, the situation is worsened when his mother-in-law shows up after her suspicions rouse her to action. This scene, where all the characters converge, is both absurd and humorous but takes a serious turn as Sin-Dee learns of Alexandra's fling with Chester while Razmik confronts not only his meddling mother-in-law but his wife and daughter, who also show up at the doughnut shop.

A film like Tangerine could have derailed early but Baker trusts in his actors and the material to ensure the story stays on its spellbinding course. Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor, real-life transgender actors, have few problems with authenticity. I really liked Karren Karagulian's performance as the Armenian immigrant whose taste in amorous partners is at cross purposes with his seemingly traditional family life.

As previously stated, Baker's visual aesthetic is in no way inhibited by technology. In fact, the lack of conventional film-making media may have been a boon. To not have had a solid story and characters would have reduced his guerrilla film-making venture to a clever trick.

Even days after having seen the film, I find Tangerine has resonance and charm. I'm still chuckling, remembering the funny scenes and how life-like many characters seem. I was surprised to learn Mickey O'Hagan is actually a drama-school alumnus. Seeing her in the film, I was convinced she is the character she portrays. It is often hard to distinguish the actors from the denizens of L.A.'s underbelly; who appear often in Baker's film.

The meaning of the title remains opaque, though we see Alexandra give Razmik a tangerine-scented air-freshener for his cab to combat the reek left by his vomiting passengers. Is the air-freshener a metaphor for society's fruitless attempt to suppress what it regards as American life's seamier side; the transgender culture?

Tangerine is another summer surprise; one whose very existence is a welcome affront to so-called Hollywood movie-making professionalism. Baker conducts a clinic on how to make a compelling film with a device no bigger than one's palm and with a miniscule budget that couldn't match a minor character's pay in The Avengers. This is indie film-making at its best.

What do you have for us next, Mr. Baker?