I and a packed audience loved this Oscar winner (for Best Foreign Film) about a transgender Chilean woman coping with the death of her older boyfriend. The star, Daniela Vega (this is her second acting credit), is trans and sings opera--mezzo soprano--in real life and in the movie. The boyfriend and his surviving brother are played by Francisco Reyes and Luis Gnecco and both were in Neruda.
The script is mostly so restrained that when characters get emotional it's surprising. It was co-written by director Sebastián Lelio and Gonzalo Maza (they did the same on Gloria). The producers include Pablo Larraín (directed Neruda and Jackie) from Chile and Maren Ade (directed Toni Erdmann) from Germany.
The lovely cinematography is thanks to Benjamín Echazarreta (did the honors on Gloria) and you can stream the wonderful music by Matthew Herbert (new to me despite a number of credits) from this youtube playlist with commercials. The soundtrack, including two opera tracks sung by Vega, is also available for sale on Amazon and iTunes. Although another composer, Nani Garcia, is credited on imdb, the movie's press kit (I recommend waiting until after seeing the movie to read the press kit, as it has a few spoilers) and the soundtracks online leave him out. One of the pop songs in the movie is, appropriately, Aretha Franklin's cover of (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 94%, are more in agreement with me and my opening night audience than RT's audiences at 82. I recommend this wholeheartedly.
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