Art Sustains Conformity in the Face of Transphobia and Transforms Daniela Vega into A Fantastic Woman

Directed by Lelio and released in 2017, the Chilean film follows Marina Vidal, a trans woman, opera singer, and waitress portrayed by Daniela Vega. Marina is in a relationship with Orlando, an older man who dies in the film’s opening moments. From this loss onward, she is forced to confront grief while simultaneously facing the explicit transphobia of her partner’s family and the institutions surrounding her.

The film became the first production led by a trans woman to receive the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film in 2018. Even so, its relevance goes beyond this historical milestone. A Fantastic Woman sustains itself primarily through the way it articulates image, body, and art as a sensitive and political language.

Marina moves forward as the world resists her — the body in motion becomes an act of persistence. Photo courtesy of the film

Cinematography as Emotional Language

When searching for significant cinematic works within the field of queer art and culture, A Fantastic Woman stands out less for the weight of its awards and more for its visual construction. The narrative advances not through discourse, but through image. Benjamín Echazarreta’s cinematography adopts a predominantly realistic palette that intensifies at specific moments through warm tones and saturated filters.

In scenes such as Marina’s romantic dance with Orlando in the nightclub at the beginning of the film, or in the closing sequence when her partner’s spirit seems to guide her to the crematorium, shades of red and purple dominate the frame. These chromatic choices function not merely as aesthetic devices but as translations of Marina’s emotional state, especially in moments of uncertainty, desire, or apprehension. Color becomes language.

Intimacy and color intertwine, revealing desire as a brief refuge before loss. Photo courtesy of the film

This visual intensity also manifests in the film’s poster, which bathes Daniela Vega’s face in blue, yellow, red, and pink. The image anticipates the construction of a multifaceted character, shaped by layers of drama, experience, and tension.

Mirrors, Fragmentation, and Identity

Throughout the narrative, Lelio frequently employs mirrors and reflective surfaces to deepen Marina’s characterization. She appears fragmented, duplicated, constantly observed. This device is not gratuitous: it reinforces the idea of an identity persistently shaped by external gazes.

In one of the film’s final scenes, Marina lies naked on the bed of her new home beside Diabla, the dog gifted to her by Orlando. A mirror is placed over her body. Her almost lost expression returns to the viewer the weight of the many symbolic and explicit acts of violence she has endured. The framing underscores how psychological and emotional dimensions are fundamental to constructing an identity that affirms itself through complexity and individuality.

Fragmented reflections expose an identity shaped under constant observation. Photo: publicity still

A Transgenre Film About a Trans Character

Sebastián Lelio has stated that his intention was to create a transgenre film — in the cinematic sense — about a transgender character — in the identity sense. A Fantastic Woman flirts with melodrama, romance, thriller, and even the ghostly, resulting in an unstable genre work that is visually sophisticated and conceptually self-aware.

This instability responds to the questions the filmmaker himself poses: “What is a woman?” and “What is a film?” The answers do not emerge through direct discourse, but through staging. The film thus constructs a poetic proposal — aesthetically engaging and politically necessary.

Conformity, Art, and Survival

Despite the painful situations she faces, Marina moves forward at an almost conformist pace. Not because she does not suffer, but because prejudice does not surprise her — it is predictable. This conformity should not be mistaken for passivity; rather, it reveals a form of survival in the face of violence that has already been anticipated. Even so, Marina remains focused: she continues working, singing, and pursuing her professional goals.

Daniela Vega beyond the screen — presence, elegance, and political visibility. Photo: publicity still

Art, in this journey, does not appear as redemption but as sustenance. The operatic voice, the body in motion, and the film’s visual construction allow Marina to continue existing in a world that insists on denying her.

In this sense, the film resonates with other contemporary queer narratives, such as Casey McQuiston’s novel One Last Stop, and with the sensitive atmosphere present in Lucy Dacus’ music, where art also functions as a space of permanence when social recognition fails.

Against the wind, Marina insists on existing. Photo courtesy of the film

Final Considerations

By placing Daniela Vega at the center of its narrative, Sebastián Lelio constructs a film that refuses exemplary characters or easy explanations. A Fantastic Woman does not merely tell the story of a trans woman in mourning; it documents the persistence of an existence that endures despite erasure. Art, here, does not soften the transphobic conflict — it sustains it, exposes it, and moves through it.

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Author Bio

Lucas Lissa is a culture journalist. He investigates access to artistic production and develops critical reflections on art across exhibitions, cinema, theater, literature, and television series.