“Brooklyn Secret” – A Filipina in New York

© JHR Films

Isabel Sandoval’s third film, Brooklyn Secret masterfully portrays the relationship between a Filipino transsexual and an American in Brooklyn. A work as disturbing as it is moving.

Undoubtedly, the third will normally be the right one. Until now, Isabel Sandoval’s films were best known by cinephiles, fans of international festivals. But that was before. With Brooklyn Secret, the French public can finally discover the work of this Filipino filmmaker. It came close to that since the feature film was initially due out on March 18. But the confinement went through there and the film could have been directly released in e-cinema or on VOD. Instead, he peacefully slept in a drawer before enjoying a deserved exploitation in theaters.

Deserved because Brooklyn Secret is a powerful film, which haunts the mind of the spectator for a long time even if, at first glance, he seems to want to avoid the show-off or any desire to demonstrate something. On the contrary, sobriety is really what takes precedence here. In this third feature film, (After Miss and Apparition), Isabel Sandoval plays the leading role. That of Olivia, a Filipino immigrant, who somehow survives in Brighton Beach, a district of Brooklyn. Housekeeper with Olga, an old Russian Ashkenazi, she tries to regularize her situation by attempting a white marriage with an American. At the same time, she meets Alex, Olga’s grandson with whom she falls in love. Everything could be simple but Olivia is hiding a secret. That of being born in a man’s body.

Committed and romantic

Brooklyn Secret has the merit of placing itself in its time. The question of gender, oh so topical, is central here. However, the great strength of the scenario lies in the fact that the main character is not seen as an atypical person. Isabel Sandoval does not produce a political work but rather a great romantic poem, magnified by the work of photography produced by Isaac Banks. Rarely has New York been filmed in this way in the cinema. Forgotten the long arteries of Manhattan and the skyscrapers. Here in Brooklyn, there is something lunar in the landscapes, almost timeless. We see the seasons pass, time passes peacefully. You could almost think that we are in a village. A place that would bring together immigrants from Europe or Asia and that Isabel Sandoval’s camera comes to film with great subtlety.

In the background, the director paints a portrait of contemporary America. An America that has a special relationship with its history of immigration. We can’t watch Brooklyn Secret with an innocent look, since we quickly make the link with the recent events that have shaken the United States. From then on, the story of Olga, immigrant above all in the eyes of others, takes on a new dimension. From “a small author’s film ideally calibrated for festivals” (it was notably presented during the last edition of the Venice Festival), it goes into the category of major works, almost important one might say. Not to be missed.

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