Super cine

Festivalissimo ’09 serves up
Latin America, onscreen

BORDER BRUTALITY: Los Bastardos

by MATTHEW HAYS

Of all the fare presented at this year’s Festivalissimo, the Chilean entry Tony Manero offered me the greatest, strangest thrill. For those of you discophiles out there, the name will ring a bell: Manero was the protagonist (played by John Travolta) in the iconic ’70s film Saturday Night Fever. Set in Chile during the early years of Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship, Manero has our protagonist (Alfredo Castro, in a perfectly creepy performance) pining to become the winner in a cheeseball TV impersonation contest. Castro becomes so consumed with getting all of his disco dance-steps down, everything else becomes secondary. He takes little notice, for instance, of the fact that Pinochet’s thugs are running rampant over anything resembling civil liberties in Chile.

Instead, Castro spends a great deal of time and energy in pursuit of making his own glass-tiled, light-up floor (just like in the movie!) so he can suitably impress the judges and audience. His white suit has the wrong number of buttons, which means it’s not precisely like the one Travolta wears. Castro begins actually killing people in order to attain his goal. It’s a twisted film, one that won it both kudos and curses at Cannes last spring. I thought Tony Manero was an odd little potboiler, about the impact of cultural imperialism on a country as it was being ravaged by the fallout of an American-sponsored military coup.

Also on the disturbing front is the suspenser El otro (The Other), an Argentine entry from director Ariel Rotter. A businessman travels to the countryside on what is initially a routine trip. But when he arrives, he finds that the man beside him has died. In a weird, impulsive move, he decides to take on the dead man’s identity. Now that he’s not who he once was, he is able to completely reinvent himself—or get in touch with who he really was all along. The Columbian film Paraiso Travel illustrates the life of one young man who decides to bail on Medellin and head to New York to pursue the American dream. This means a trek through Guatemala and Mexico, then sneaking across the U.S. border. Based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Jorge Franco Ramos, this is a poignant story about a Latino immigrant’s struggle to make a new, harsh life in America work.

From Mexico comes Los bastardos, a tortured story of two young Mexican workers living without legal papers in the U.S., and desperate to earn a living—so desperate they take on mob-related tasks that involve the taking of life. Another desperate and powerful glimpse into the world of those forced to find a better life by secretly passing across the border. Directed by Amat Escalante, Los bastardos was an award winner at last year’s Mar del Plata Film Fest.

Love and death

Arriving from Brazil is Bruno Barreto’s Ultima Parada 174, the anguished true tale of one teenager living in poverty in Rio de Janeiro. After hopping a bus, this gun-toting teen takes the passengers hostage for an afternoon, ranting and raving like a lunatic. This story became famous after getting the doc treatment; here, the filmmaker attempts to get to the roots of this lad’s torment, and explain—but not justify—his ultimate insane acts. Written by Bráulio Mantovani, the screenwriter behind City of God. Also from Brazil is Maré, Nossa história de amor (Another Love Story), a Romeo and Juliet-inspired romance about two young lovers who are doomed due to the gang violence that divides their community. Directed by Lucia Murat.

In spectacular, bold experimental style comes the Chilean film Las niñas, Rodrigo Marin’s debut feature. Two women meet and explore their newfound love for one another. Amazingly, this film was shot in a 24-hour period, on one set—and the two actresses involved had never even met before.

On a lighter, more whimsical note is El nido vacío (Empty Nest), an Argentinean film about an older couple readjusting to married life once their children have all grown up and left home. Oscar Martinez plays the husband, who finds himself exploring daydreams of lustful encounters with other women. His wife (Cecilia Roth), by contrast, throws herself back into her university work. Director Daniel Burman, one of the most celebrated new cinematic voices in Argentina, has concocted a film about strained marital relations with humour and heart.

FESTIVALISSIMO SCREENS AT
EX-CENTRIS FROM MARCH 19–APRIL 5.
INFO: FESTIVALISSIMO.CA