Commentary by Sergio Martínez
A not very large Latin American presence, but with some
interesting productions was what we had the opportunity to see at the recent
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) held between September 8 and 18.
Next, the review and critical commentary of those we saw.
Domingo and the Mist
(Dir. Ariel Escalante Meza, Costa Rica-Qatar)
Domingo and the Mist
A combination of the mystical and the real estate
speculation in view of a highway under construction puts Domingo (Carlos Ureña)
in the situation of defending his land. The director manages to mesh Domingo's
story very well, his relationship with his daughter Sylvia (Sylvia Sossa) and
the symbolic presence of his deceased wife through the tropical mist. These
elements create a world between magic and reality in which the inhabitants of
the small town that will be affected by the expansion of the highway live. All
this without forgetting that the powerful interests at stake are ready to
resort to violent methods to achieve their goal. The cinematography of this
film (by Nicolás Wong Díaz) is particularly remarkable.
La jauría (Dir. Andrés
Ramírez Pulido, Colombia)
 |
| La jauría |
Presences (Dir. Luis Mandoki, Mexico)
This film was not part of the program but was one of the
private screenings out of the schedule. We received an invitation and went to
see it. We were curious about a "Mexican horror film". It was indeed
a film with horror elements but also an incursion into the mystery of the human
mind. A celebrated actor and his partner move into an old semi-abandoned house
belonging to the actor's family to sell it. But what seems to be an inexplicable
phenomenon, plus the hostility of the town's neighbours, will turn the
visitors' stay into a nightmare, in which the elements of terror will only
become apparent towards the end of the film.
Love and Mathematics (Dir. Claudia Sainte-Luce, Mexico)
A comedy with elements of romance, in which the
protagonists must face the dilemma of following or breaking the rules. Billy
(Roberto Quijano) is a former member of a now-defunct rock band; his life is
quiet and monotonous, taking care of the baby he has with his wife, the
breadwinner.
 |
| Love and Mathematics |
The arrival of a new married couple in the neighbourhood will
produce a refreshing change, especially when the mild-mannered neighbour Monica
(Diana Bovio) reveals herself to be a former fan of the defunct band, especially
Billy. Undoubtedly, this is a story with a lot of tenderness and sensitivity.
Charcoal (Dir. Carolina Markovicz, Brazil-Argentina)
A not very well-structured story in which a nurse in a
border town in Brazil asks a family to hide an Argentine drug trafficker. The
film has an interesting setting but fails to find the focus of the plot; on the
one hand, there is the presence of the grandfather, bedridden and unable to
communicate; on the other, the sudden change of nurse that social services send
to take care of the older man, in the middle, the woman's child. The new nurse
proposes a deal that will change the family's daily life and will mainly affect
the housewife's son.
A CHILEAN FRENCH DOCUMENTARY
My Imaginary Country (Patricio Guzmán, France-Chile)
Chilean director Patricio Guzman, based in France, covers
in this film the period between the social upheaval that occurred in Chile in
2019 until its culmination in the formation of a constitutional convention
charged with drafting a new constitution for the country and the election of a
leftist president at the end of 2021. Emotionally powerful as all of this
director's films, this documentary, with its hopeful message, contrasts with
the reality of the defeat of the constitutional project, obviously not covered
by the film. However, it could undoubtedly be an excellent topic for future
foray by Guzman into his country's recent history.
 |
| My Imaginary Country |
THE SPANISH FILMS
El agua (Dir. Elena
López Riera, Spain)
This young Spanish filmmaker's film was very interesting to
watch because of the way it intertwines myth and legend around water in a small
Spanish town—especially the legend of how the water possessed some young girls
in the village.
The story focuses on the adolescent experiences of the
protagonist, Ana (Luna Pamies), both in her relationship with her mother
(Bárbara Lemmie) and her grandmother (Nieve de Medina). All of this is framed
by the presence of water as a factor of life and destruction and threat.
 |
| El agua |
Stories Not to be Told (Dir. Cesc Gay, Spain)
 |
| Stories Not to be Told |
This entertaining film revives the episodic format, with
four stories in which, three of them centre on the topic of love, sex and
somehow the couple's commitment and fidelity. In the fourth, the focus is more on
the desire to maintain a certain image on the part of a group of actresses in
decline. Approached in a very humorous way by the director, the characters try
to deal with their thinly disguised vulnerabilities and dissatisfactions—a
remarkable comedy with an irreverent look at human relationships in these
times.
CANADIAN FILMS DIRECTED BY LATINAS
Two films, with very different results, were directed by
directors of Latin American origin: Katherine Jerkovic, of Uruguayan origin,
and Lina Rodriguez, born in Colombia and also based in this country.
Coyote (Dir. Katherine Jerkovic, Canada)
Like many Latinos in Montreal, Camilo (Jorge Martínez
Colorado) works for a company that cleans office buildings. In a better time,
he had owned his restaurant, El Coyote, but circumstances that will be revealed
later led to the end of the business. However, the possibilities of returning
to his profession as a chef seem to be on Camilo's horizon again. Still, he
will have to move out of the city to do so. The unexpected visit of his
daughter Tania (Eva Avila), whom he has not seen for years, will cause changes
in Camilo's life, especially when she asks him to take care of her son while
she goes to a drug rehabilitation centre. The director gives us an intimate and
well-articulated vision of the father-daughter-grandson relationship. However,
in the end, there may be a bitter aftertaste. This is because it highlights
that sometimes in life, one sacrifices important personal things to benefit
others, who cannot be ignored. It is a challenging dilemma to solve. A film
worth seeing once it is released in Montreal.
Coyote
So Much Tenderness (Dir. Lina Rodriguez)
Full of platitudes, the wife of a lawyer murdered in
Colombia arrives in Canada as a refugee with her daughter. We did not give a
very positive critical judgment to this film which, although Canadian, has a
theme that touches the Latino immigrant community. A Colombian lawyer, Aurora
(Noëlle Schönwald), specializing in environmental issues, arrives in Canada
after her husband was murdered in strange circumstances in her country. Once
settled here and now working as a Spanish teacher, she also has to deal with
the unclear demands of her teenage daughter Lucia (Natalia Aranguren). To
complicate matters further, an individual allegedly linked to her husband's
murder unexpectedly turns up working in a Toronto cafe. The latter seems highly
implausible: why, of all places, would this guy show up not only in Toronto but
in a neighbourhood frequented by the now refugee? Or is it all a figment of her
imagination? The problem is that the plot is unclear as to its probable
conclusions.
A LATINO-U.S. FILM
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
(Dir. Aitch Alberto, USA).
Aristoteles and Dante Discover
the Secrets of the Universe
Set in 1987 in the border town of El Paso, this film nicely
chronicles the dynamic and sometimes complex relationship between two
adolescents. Ari, from a family of Mexican origin, meets Dante at a public
swimming pool in the city. While the Mexican-born boy's family lives a more
traditional lifestyle, Dante's family is less conventional. Eventually, the
nature of the relationship will confront both young men with difficult
decisions and definitions regarding their own identities.
No hay comentarios.:
Publicar un comentario