Rawness, Winsomeness

Muni-muni

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The Amazing Truth about Queen Raquela is enchanting. Johannesson’s magic wand has sprinkled every absurd and intriguing account on the life of a lady boy – a girl with a dick or a guy who wants to be a girl but has a dick (useless definition). All the glittery aspects of the film just made its way to work simply because of Raquela’s charm. This is very important because the tale involves a character that is not conventional to the eyes of the audience. It could only work if a film presents a character that is effervescent, smart and likeable.

Raquela (Raquela Rios) is a lady boy living in the Philippines. She is from the south province of Cebu. She has only one dream: To be in Paris. Her life in the province is full of ups and downs, living as a prostitute to open-minded male patrons as the latter. And she makes sure she gets penetrated without protection. It makes her feel like a real woman. Luckily, she was discovered by a photographer. Soon enough, she works on the internet porn industry by a moody owner Michael (Stefan Schaefer). There she meets Valerie (Valeria Grand Einarsson) a transsexual from Iceland who promised to bring her to Iceland for her to be able to achieve her lifelong dream.

Along the course of the story, we could distinguish the documentary style mixed with hyper-realistic situations. The film opted to use naturalistic dialogues with some interviews from real people. The story takes place in different countries which could also hint a bit of travelogue-road trip genre fusion. The transition from one place to another brings about a unique mood and disparate music. A possible romantic interlude with Michael and Raquela also takes place when the two finally meet.

The film could have this realistic-documentary effect but the insights are also seen in the viscera of the moving images. Living in a third world country could hinder someone to fulfill their dreams. But the impossibility might drive a person to hope for it to be achievable. Even living abroad is not a fairytale type of story. Raquela gets to Iceland and works in a fish factory just to live. Raquela is summoned by her dreams as well. Anyway, it’s not entirely serious in this matter. The film is rather fast paced, entertaining and well thought of.

People like Raquela have dreams and desires just like any other human. If there is a time that we question their authenticity or their declarations on how real they are, we tend to get the message in a blurred way. Raquela might actually be trapped in a man’s body. Raquela simply lives like just any ordinary human and making her dreams possible without despair for the life she has chosen.
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Charlie Koon's Rating: