On Christmas Eve in Hollywood, a trans sex worker named Sin-Dee Rella just out of jail hears her boyfriend has been cheating and goes hunting for him across the city. Her friend Alexandra and a cab driver named Razmik get pulled into the chase. Worth watching for how much film Sean Baker gets out of three iPhone 5s phones.
Tangerine is a 2015 comedy and drama film directed by Sean Baker. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (2 cinematography, 2 narrative and 1 sound), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, American Gangster uses several of the same techniques.
Shooting with a handheld camera so the frame shakes and moves with the action. This documentary-style look, called cinema vérité, puts you uncomfortably close to the character.
How this film uses it
The whole film was shot on three iPhone 5s phones, so the camera is small enough to run right alongside the characters. It stays at arm's length from Sin-Dee as she storms through the neighborhood, and you feel like you are walking next to her.
Where to see it
Sin-Dee leaving the donut shop to hunt for Chester. The camera tracks her march down the street as she gets angrier with every block.
Filming in recognizable real places so the setting acts like part of the cast. Streets, buildings and landscapes shape the mood of the story.
How this film uses it
Baker shoots on real Hollywood street corners, in a real donut shop, a car wash and a motel. None of it looks like a movie set. The city feels dusty, loud and lived in, which is how the people in the film see it.
Where to see it
The car wash scene. Razmik and Alexandra meet inside a working car wash, and the soapy, noisy space gives the meeting a private but public feeling.
Running several separate storylines side by side, sometimes leading them to collide, so each thread comments on the others and the whole becomes a larger picture.
How this film uses it
Sin-Dee, Alexandra and Razmik each get their own thread through the day. Razmik's mother-in-law also goes looking for him. All of them end up in the same donut shop, so every thread you were following collides in one room.
Where to see it
The donut shop confrontation. Sin-Dee, Chester, Dinah, Razmik and his family all argue at once until the shop owner kicks them out.
Putting jokes and comic performance inside dangerous or desperate situations. The humor works as a way of resisting, and you never forget what the characters are laughing through.
How this film uses it
Sin-Dee drags another woman across town and the scene is loud and funny. Underneath it, she is hurt and angry about being cheated on. You laugh and still understand what she is feeling.
Where to see it
Sin-Dee hauling Dinah onto a bus. She is furious and has a tight grip on her, yet the two women trade jokes and insults the whole ride.
Letting characters perform the songs on screen, so the music comes from their own hands and voices. You hear the song and the performer's nerves at the same time.
How this film uses it
Alexandra is a singer, and the film builds toward her club night. You hear her sing live in the room, with the quiet bar around her. That makes the small crowd matter as much as the song.
Where to see it
Alexandra performing at the bar. She sings to a mostly empty room, and the thin crowd shows how hard her night is going.
Questions
Tangerine: quick answers
What filmmaking techniques does Tangerine use?
CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in Tangerine (2015): Handheld Cinema Vérité, Real Locations as Character, Interwoven Storylines, Comedy Under Duress and Diegetic Musical Performance.
Who directed Tangerine?
Sean Baker directed Tangerine, released in 2015. CineCode also covers The Florida Project (2017), Red Rocket (2021), Anora (2024).
What films are similar to Tangerine?
Films that share techniques with Tangerine include American Gangster (2007), To Rome with Love (2012), Short Cuts (1993), Modern Times (1936).
