Movie Review by Sergio Martinez
The 48th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival
(TIFF) came to an end on Sunday, September 17, leaving us with a very pleasant
feeling on several fronts. On the one hand, although on this occasion I was
only present for the last six days of the event, I can affirm that almost all
the films I was able to see, a total of nineteen, were of great quality. There
is, however, another aspect that needs to be pointed out. For a long time, it
was criticized that TIFF privileged too much the screening of Hollywood
productions, in fact operating as a launching pad for American films, to the
detriment of international productions. Well, this year that international
presence has been much more noticeable. Certainly, one factor to consider has
been the strike of screenwriters and actors in the United States, which
resulted in the absence of the usual Hollywood stars that drew crowds to the
red carpets on King Street. However, credit must also be given to genuine
efforts on the part of the programmers to present greater diversity, both in
terms of the international character of the films shown, as well as to give
greater visibility to women directors and –in the case of the Canadian presence—
to productions originating from indigenous peoples.
THE LATIN AMERICAN PRESENCE
The Latin American films –many of them co-productions as is
today a growing practice and very necessary to meet the large budgets required—
can be characterized as of high quality, reflecting an interest in portraying
the realities of these societies in a very frank and creative way. Also, note
the presence of several women filmmakers.
Upon the Open Sky (A cielo abierto)
Directors: Mariana Arriaga, Santiago Arriaga
(Mexico-Spain)
This was the most interesting of all the Latin American
films seen in this showcase. Although described as a story of revenge, that is
almost a good pretext to reveal something more complex: how an expedition by
Fernando and Salvador to kill the truck driver who two years earlier crashed
the car where their father was travelling, becomes a test of maturity and challenge
for each of the young men. The two brothers are accompanied by Paula, the daughter
of their mother's current boyfriend.
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The two brothers plus Paula,
seeking vengeance
The girl also has a boyfriend, but Salvador, the 14-year-old
teenager, feels a secret attraction for her, and, at night from a window, he delights
in secretly watching when she undresses.
During the journey and especially at the moment of the
denouement of the revenge task, it can be seen how the experience has changed
each of the youths and revealed their weaknesses and strengths.
The Settlers (Los colonos)
Director: Felipe Gálvez Haberle
(Chile, Argentina, France, Denmark, United Kingdom, Taiwan,
Sweden, Germany)
This is the second Latin American film that has impressed
me the most, both for its dramatic development, the strength of its story and the
impact of its images. Set on the island of Tierra del Fuego between the end of
the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, the film recreates the process
by which this territory was colonized to introduce sheep farming. For this to
happen, however, it was necessary to exterminate the indigenous population that
inhabited it: the Selknam and the Onas.
Two adventurers in the service of the landowner, one a
former Scottish soldier –who claims to have been a lieutenant in the British
army— and the other, an American with experience in "killing
Indians", paradoxically accompanied by a young man of mixed race, white
and indigenous, set out on an excursion that will cover both the Chilean and
Argentinean sides of the island. The
task entrusted by José Menéndez –the owner of that gigantic estancia that
extended across the territory of the two countries— is very clear: to kill all
the Indians. The reason for this drastic measure is that they hunted and ate
the sheep (for the Indians, lacking the notion of property over animals, sheep
were legitimate hunting targets)..jpg)
The Settlers, tells the story
of how indigenous people
in Tierra del Fuego, were exterminated
The film is a crude account of how the extermination of the
native peoples of Tierra del Fuego would have occurred.
The Movie Teller (La contadora
de películas)
Director: Lone Scherfig
(Chile, Spain, France)
This Danish director finds in Hernán Rivera Letelier's
novel of the same title, a good subject of adaptation with a story that
contains aspects of drama, but also an account of a mining activity now
disappeared. And what is important, the result is very pleasant to watch. It is
my third favourite in the category of Latin American films.
The film takes place in a saltpetre mining site in the
middle of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile.
When an unfortunate event affects the life of María Magnolia's (Berenice
Bejo) family, she decides to make a decisive change in her life, which in turn
will have a negative impact on her husband and children. Amid this situation,
however, her daughter María Margarita's (Sara Becker) ability to count the
movies she has seen at the village cinema will make her not only a local star
but also a welcome source of income for her family.
The Movie Teller, in addition to telling a dramatic story
of a working-class Chilean family, is a moving tribute to cinema and what this
art form represented for a small community such as the saltpetre workers.
The ability of a young girl to recount
movies in a town in the middle of the desert
The Taste of Christmas (El sabor de la Navidad)
Directed by Alejandro Lozano
(Mexico)
In fourth place, I must place this very likeable Mexican
production that is able to approach several themes with an appropriate mix of humour,
social commentary, and some drama. In the days leading up to Christmas, we see
the intertwining of three converging stories. Valeria (Mariana Triviño) is busy
with her catering service, with a very special order for the traditional festivities.
The arrival of an assistant relieves her of some of her work but brings another
problem. The Christmas dinner order has been placed by a family that has its
own internal tensions, although on this occasion one of the daughters, who had
been distant until then, has promised to attend, but has set a condition. Meanwhile,
in another very different neighbourhood, Chava has gotten his friend Santi a
job as Santa Claus at a celebration in a city park. Although Chava teaches him
how to act to get more children to take pictures with him, Santi, advised by
his girlfriend, will apply his own formula, which will have unexpected results.
While the family home awaits the arrival of dinner, the presence of the
prodigal daughter, Penelope, will also generate new tensions.
When the stories finally converge, the result is very much
in keeping with the occasion, but first, the characters have gone through experiences
of pain and frustration that only the Christmas spirit could dispel. A series
of well-told stories, with a predictable ending, but with good development and
accurate photography that manages to highlight both the comic and dramatic
aspects.
Three stories converge in this
Mexican movie,
combining comedy,
romance and some drama
Valentina or Serenity (Valentina
o la serenidad)
Director: Ángeles
Cruz
(Mexico)
This film provides an interesting look at the theme of
death from the perspective of the aboriginal peoples. When Valentina's father
drowns in a river near the Mixtec-majority village, the girl is not completely
convinced of the finiteness of her father's life. She insists that she wants to
talk to her father, who, for her, lives in the river.
It is a story where feelings of tenderness and that
ancestral desire to believe that death is not the end of everything come
together. All told from the girl's perspective.
Valentina will not believe in
the death of her father
Good narrative development and a very good performance of
the girl.
The Abduction (El rapto)
Director: Daniela Goggi
(Argentina)
Set in Argentina, which was just returning to democracy,
under the government of Raul Alfonsin, this film points to the fact that once
the dictatorship came to an end, most of the members of the so-called task
forces, that is, the military and police commandos in charge of repression,
became unemployed and dedicated themselves to do the only thing they had
learned to do: kidnap people. This time they will do it for money and not for
political reasons.
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Julio will confront the new
reality of his country
Julio, belonging to a Jewish family that owns an investment company, returns from his exile in Spain with his wife and children, still without much clarity about his future. Events, however, will define that future for him. When his brother Miguel is kidnapped, he must not only take over the management of the company but also conduct negotiations with his captors. A task that will be very complicated because the kidnappers seem to have connections at the highest levels.
It is an interesting film in many aspects, especially in
its denunciation of the aftermath of repression.
The Ravaging Wind (El viento que arrasa)
Director: Paula Hernández
(Argentina, Uruguay)
Reverend Pearson (Alfredo Castro) and his daughter Leni
(Almudena González) travel the frontier regions of northeastern Argentina,
trying to bring their message to the locals. Pearson, like many of these
preachers, is a fanatic and pursues his mission in an uncompromising way. This
creates more than a few conflicts for him, especially when, due to unforeseen
circumstances, he ends up stranded in an isolated workshop where he has to take
his car to be repaired. There he insists on taking the owner's son, who has a
severe facial deformity, to consecrate his life to God. This will put him in an
open confrontation with the father, known as Gringo (Sergi Lopez).
Meanwhile, young Leni will also begin to question her
relationship with her father, whom she has followed devotedly, but now begins
to see from other angles as well. In this regard, it is interesting to note
that, unlike other preachers, Pearson is not in it for the sake of making money
at the expense of his faithful, his life as an itinerant preacher is rather
austere, but fanaticism will be his problem.
Very good acting complemented by excellent photography, a
very important factor in highlighting the imposing landscape in which the
characters move.
Rev. Pearson and his daughter Leni,
travelling to spread the word of God,
but there are some problems ahead
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