STREAMING CINEMA
Hanging In There In Brighton Beach
Isabel Sandoval creates anxious undocumented trans woman
BY GARY M. KRAMER
The modest, involving
drama “Lingua Franca”
is written, directed, produced,
and edited by Isabel
Sandoval, a transgender Filipina
fi lmmaker. She also stars as
Olivia, a caregiver for Olga (Lynn
Cohen, underused), who is suffering
from dementia. As the fi lm
opens, Olga’s grandson, Alex (Eamon
Farren) has come to live with
— and help care for Olga — as he
gets his life back on track.
But Sandoval’s gentle drama
does not focus on Olga; she is
mainly a device to get these two
very different people together.
While Alex is cocky, a fuck-up who
has a problem with alcohol and
lacks self-control, Olivia is kind
and patient — and terribly afraid
of being deported. (News reports
throughout the fi lm didactically
emphasize the dire situation for the
undocumented in the US.) Adding
to Olivia’s stress is the fact that the
man she was planning to marry
to get a green card and stay in the
country is reneging on his offer.
“Lingua Franca” certainly sets
up the possibility of Olivia and
Alex getting married to keep her in
the US, but Olivia will not ask this
of him. The pair do, however, begin
a romantic relationship. First, she
has a fantasy about Alex caressing
her when he reads aloud one of Olga’s
love letters. After he drives her
to the Filipino neighborhood and
she describes her legal situation,
she later, impulsively, kisses him.
Alex quickly kisses her back. They
soon have sex.
Alex, however, is unaware that
Olivia is transgender, and the fi lm
milks some tension out of when
and how he will learn this fact. The
information is revealed in a clunky
scene where one of Alex’s drunken
➤ ROGUE, from p.26
you handle yourself?
BASSETT:They say your lead
character is basically you, so
Isabel Sandoval in the lead role in her fi lm “Lingua Franca.”
friends raids Olivia’s room and discovers
her passport. But the fact
that he knows about her and she
does not know he does provides
some drama.
Sandoval may have an agenda,
but “Lingua Franca” nicely shows
how Alex, a straight, white, cisgender
male, gains awareness and develops
compassion for an undocumented
Filipino trans woman. The
fi lm may have the makings of a
white savoir story, but it only fl irts
with being a fairy tale. Instead,
Sandoval steeps her fi lm in the
harsh reality of Olivia, exhausted
at having to always live in fear of
being caught by ICE.
“I feel them following me, watching
my every move,” she says,
heartbreakingly, before bursting
into tears.
laughs… I’m a badass. I know
what I’m doing with a gun and I
know what I’m doing with a lion.
I think I could have made that
night. I might have broken a few
ARRAY RELEASING
It is a raw and affecting moment.
Sandoval’s fi lm could have used
a few more powerful moments like
this one. She does come close in
a quiet scene in a hotel room late
in the fi lm that allows Olivia and
Alex to absorb all that has passed
between them. The director frames
this shot artfully, as she does
much of the fi lm. The static images
of Brighton Beach that open and
close the fi lm provide a real sense
of place, and the way she frames
characters in rooms and doorways
or behind glass showcase Sandoval’s
exceptional eye for composition
and detail. There are many
striking images.
But “Lingua Franca” features
too many contrived moments that
are frustrating. An episode where
nails. That’s the worst thing, I
break them on guns when I show
them to actors. I might hand a gun
to someone else to preserve my
manicure.
there is a power outage in the
house feels forced, as do scenes of
Alex wrestling or working a punching
bag that seem designed to validate
his masculinity. His character
is designed to work at not drinking
and being a better man. Alex
only considers life in a new way
after Alex he begins his relationship
with Olivia. The impact she
has on him is palpable, and Farren
works at making that transformation
convincing. There are times
the actor seems natural—sitting at
a party, thinking more about Olivia
than the friends he is with—
but there are moments where his
performance feels rehearsed, most
notably when he learns the truth
about Olivia’s gender.
In contrast, Sandoval gives a
very poignant and assured performance.
She has some interesting
exchanges with her mother, who
calls periodically, asking for her allowance.
Olivia also ships clothes
to her family, indicating how much
they rely on her to live and work
and earn money in the States.
There are even some sweet
scenes between Olivia and her
friend Trixie (Ivory Aquino), as
these trans women sit in a church
and recall once wanting to be altar
boys.
But what comes across most in
“Lingua Franca” is Olivia’s dignity.
While she may feel the sword of
Damocles hanging over her, she
holds her head high, even when
she overhears a transphobic remark
out of one of Alex’s buddies.
Sandoval’s fi lm isn’t perfect, but
it provides a valuable insight into
the experience of an undocumented
transgender woman in Donald
Trump’s America.
LINGUA FRANCA | Directed by Isabel
Sandoval | ARRAY Releasing
| Streaming on Netfl ix.com
ROGUE | Directed by M.J. Bassett
| Lionsgate and Grindstone Entertainment
Group | On Demand and
digital beginning Aug. 28 | lionsgate.
com/movies/rogue
August 27 - September 9,26 2020 | GayCityNews.com
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