Chilean Film A FANTASTIC WOMAN Features Transgender Actress as Mournful Outcast from Lover's Funeral

Chilean dir/screenwriter & producer, Sebastian Lelio (b Argentina 1974) received an Oscar nomination for this year's Best Foreign Film.  Life imitates art in part. Marina (a superb Daniel Vega) a transgender woman plays the lover of Orlando (Francisco Morando, "Nerudo").  The Spanish speaking film is shot in Chile with exquisite cinematographic work.  Marina & Orlando appear passionately in love.  We first follow Orlando from his steam room massage to a steamy love scene between him & Marina; a singer/waitress. The couple's relationship is hot & intriguing.  One can't  help but question whether Marina is male, female or transgender.  As a voyeur to their sexual liaison  we want to catch a glimpse of female breast or genitalia because besides being sultry & seductive, her physique & features appear somewhat masculine. Tragedy & humiliation strike the 1st night we see them in bed.  Orlando sits upright struggling to breath.  When he collapses, Marina hurries to transport him to the hospital.   In the harried process Orlando tumbles down a flight of stairs causing bodily injuries.  She reaches the hospital where medics take over and she is sent out from the ICU.  When the Dr. comes out to speak he first inquires whether she is family.  The Dr. reluctantly confers  the dire news of Orlando's death.  While in shock, she phones Gabo, a family member & personal ally.  Marina returns to the apartment she shared with Orlando. Bruno, Orlando's son shows up the next morning.  He curses her, declares his father insane for have been with her and tells she has to leave.  There's more indignity, terror & grief for Marina to bear.  Marina is forced to return the car to Sonia; his wife & mother of his child.  Sonia is less menacing but as piercing in her contempt calling the relationship perverted.  "I don't know what I'm seeing" Sonia tells her "a chimera."  Sonia forbids Marina from attending the family funeral for Orlando.  The most horrifying & humiliating inquisition is at the police station.  Marina is required to pose nude & submit to a physical.  Our sympathies lie with Marina whose only offense was loving a married man & defiantly living her life as her fullest self.  Watching Marina clubbing on the eve of Orlando's funeral she exhibits a numbing animalistic nature.  Bruno's cruelty toward Marina is brutal & barbaric. "What is the difference between a mammal and a reptile?" Bruno rhetorically asks, "Mammals have empathy & love."  Marina searches to find what her lover left behind a secretive door.  She becomes a chameleon sleuth shifting genders  navigating the spa with Orlanda's locker.  She discovers an empty locker but retains the love they found.  The acting is astounding.  But, Daniela Vega's tour-de-force performance is unforgettable.  This is a scorching film of basic human rights and dignity.  It's an excellent contender for Best Foreign Film.  Vega's performance deserves an Oscar.