Alberto, an evangelical gardener, returns to his hometown to attend the funeral of his father, who was killed by an influential man. To mourn the deceased, he is forced to participate to religious celebrations that are contrary to his will and beliefs.Read More »
A young man with a backpack walks all on his own into the endless Mexican cactus desert. He takes some peyote. How does he get out again? Pure cinema in the long-take tradition of Lisandro Alonso or Gus Van Sant.Read More »
Quote:
Tale of a young couple who throw caution to the wind and set out in search of their true fate. Román is the son of a contemptible, right-leaning congressman. Recently enrolled in a new high school, the rebellious teen clumsily attempts to hang himself on-stage at the big talent show. Maru is the sole member of the audience to applaud, earning both students a day of detention. After bonding during the course of their punishment, Román and Maru grab daddy’s gun, steal a Volkswagen, and hit the road bound for nowhere.Read More »
Synopsis:
‘A man gets trapped inside a telephone box. Onlookers unsuccessfully try to free him. Then the men from the telephone company arrive, but relief turns into puzzlement, then horror, as it transpires what they have in store for him.’
– Donald FiskRead More »
From Argentina, this film is called Abrir puertas y ventanas in Spanish, “To Open Doors and Windows.” And indeed the first time director, Milagros Mumenthaler, has a fixation on these two apertures: the camera is always catching a window or a door being gone through, opened, slammed. As has been remarked by others, it is the visuals that appeal in this slow-moving, delicate film. Less appealing and not deeply explored are the protagonists — three sisters, though they don’t resemble each other. Marina (Maria Canale), a college student and the most responsible one of the three, doesn’t want anything to change. The irritable and uncooperative Sofia (Martina Juncadella) is an obvious contrast, constantly changing outfits and rearranging or disposing of the decor. The listless Violeta (Ailin Salas) lies about scantily clad, most of the time too lazy even to get fully dressed. Something is off, but it takes a while to find out what — their grandmother and guardian, a university professor, has recently died of a heart attack. Hanging around in their comfortable house and troubled by family secrets, the sisters appear to have few friends and no other family. Though Maria occasionally goes off to school, they all seem largely immobilized, it would seem as much by laziness, the heat, and boredom as by grief; or they may need to express grief and lack the energy to do so. They can’t be bothered to go to a video shop and merely telephone to order a movie to be delivered — “A comedy,” “Something that’s not Argentinean.”Read More »
During one hot summer day, little things happen to the visitors and workers of an old thermal resort in southern Chile. Julieta, Francisco, Isa, Rodrigo, Ignacio, Mariana, Muriel, Gabriela, Eliseo, Norma, Alejandra and Claudio experience the long vacation hours in nature, sleeping in the sun, learning how to drive, cleaning the house, kissing for the first time, swimming at night or just walking and talking, while the day slowly unravels into small fragments of happiness and discovery.Read More »
Synopsis:
Two children travel with their parents from Santiago Chile to the north of Chile for a family holiday. The landscape’s loneliness and the car’s confinement help bring out the couple’s troubles and the children learn that this might turn out to be their father’s farewell and their last family vacation.Read More »
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“El poder de las tinieblas” (Power of Darkness) is a film based upon a famous novel by argentinian writer Ernesto Sábato INFORME SOBRE CIEGOS. Its plot is simple and powerful: a person begins to believe that every blind man he sees is persecuting him. This fear is gradually growing to reach unexpectable points. The plot is ok, but actors are not playing good enough and, therefore, the film is not so good as the book. Anyway, I think it is a good defy to comprehend some of the not always successful relationships between literature and cinema.Read More »
“On January 8, 1988, when I was ten years old, my parents decided to go on vacation and leave me with my brothers Santiago and Andrés who were 17 and 14 years old. That day I went to a friend’s birthday party and they were to pick me up in the afternoon. Night fell and dawn found me still waiting and watching at the window. They never arrived.” Read More »