A scene from the film 'Die Beautiful'Director: Jun Robles Lana
Language: Tagalog
Die Beautiful is a comedy-drama that explores the journey of a transgender who competes in beauty pageants.
The film opens with an old video footage of children playing beauty queen and then shifts to a funeral sequence.
The body in the casket is that of a transgender named Trisha and is kept for a seven-day wake. Fulfilling her last wish, Trisha is dressed up like celebrities on all seven days. The film then takes you to her past.
Patrick desires to be a girl right from his childhood days but his father disagrees to his ‘indifferent’ behavior. Unable to accept that his child is a transgender, he bars him from attending functions led by queer people.
Fearing dishonor, the father asks him to leave the house for good. Patrick leaves his home and takes up the name Trisha in order to become a transgender.
A homeless Patrick goes to his friend Barb’s house. Barb is a transgender and an exceptional make-up artist, who can turn anybody into the looks of celebrities. With Barb’s support, Trisha participates in several beauty contests.
After a long wait, Trisha gets crowned during a beauty queen contest. Seconds after she is crowned, Trisha collapses and dies. Barbs want to fulfill Trisha’s last wish and so with the help of Trisha’s sister, she steals her body from the hospital.
Barb dresses her up like famous personalities such as Angelina Jolie, Lady Gaga and other celebrities and keeps her in a funeral parlor. The news spreads like wildfire and people throng the parlor to see Trisha.
Though not on a serious note, the film shows how difficult it is for a transgender to find a place in the society or even family, for that matter. Even after her death, Trisha’s father wants her to look like Patrick.
Paolo Ballesteros, who portrayed Trisha’s character, has done a marvelous job. Through his skillful acting, Patrick’s transformation to Trisha is beautifully conveyed.
