El Bonaerense - Pablo Trapero (2002)

Carancho is about love in the middle of road accidents. An ugly world full of people who want to help others and people who want to take advantage of others. The world is a dark place but sometimes there is the light of love trying to save us. 

El Bonaerense is about corruption in the middle of the police force. A relatively young man from a small town ends up as a cadet. He got there by chance and had no better prospects. He is a man of his time, the end of 2001, when the country was both confused and demoralised. But he's also an excuse and a mirror for us spectators to travel into the world of La Bonaerense (Buenos Aires province's police force). For people who are familiar with it, it's no surprise the corruption and behaviour of people who should be instead be fighting crime. I'm not sure how it works for people who aren't familiar... I would say this film is too much, it can't be like this, this director is exaggerating. No, he isn't. That's how things are.

Trapero's vision of things is bleak, but the characters of both of his films belong to the same world. El Bonaerense is weaker in the story aspect, maybe because the characters aren't strong enough. It's still an alright film, a journey into corruption. It's nice to watch. The use of music annoys me a little, too stereotyped, too easy choices... exactly the same with the characters.

El Bonaerense

Carancho - Pablo Trapero (2010)

I like this film. I like it because it makes me think that Argentinian cinema can indeed create good things. I like the way it's filmed, the camera and the photography... the sound is alright too.

Not long before Carancho was released, El secreto de sus ojos was a huge hit, Oscar included. A film about a troubled policeman, haunted by an old love at the same time that someone dies and he has a new case to investigate. The story develops into the old love affair (rather boring too) and ends up forgetting about the girl who died in the hands of a psychopath. But it doesn't matter, because her husband is taken care of it by finding the killer himself and torturing him to the end of their days. I remember having trouble putting into words why I hated the film... until someone commented he hated it because of how it's acceptable to take hand in their own justice. That was it, mixing things, trying to make a film about justice and love and failing to do both. (Someone else I know thinks that the film is also saying is that there is no point in fighting lost causes, which is very discouraging). 

Carancho has a troubled character too, in this case a thieving lawyer. And he falls in love, so badly that he decides to finally start doing things right and improve his life. He has feelings, he is human. She is a doctor hooked on drugs. They are a couple that work in the same rotten world where life is at the edge, always. But they are right for each other. It is clearly a film about love. The context is bleak and their story might be hopeless but they are real people with real feelings, with actual difficulties to live their lives. Life has more meaning in this film. So does love. The ending might have a little too many twists, but you can't say it doesn't make sense. It's well written. Even though they share the main actor, it is a world apart from El secreto de sus ojos and a much better film.

Carancho

Violeta se fue a los cielos - Andrés Wood (2011)

Films about real people are always tricky. Especially when the character is someone like Violeta Parra, who was so complex, multi-faceted and interesting. I've seen a documentary about her and it was quite interesting in terms of the interviews it had and how it should a lot of her aspects (in terms of documentaries, it wasn't particularly innovative or creative). With fiction of course it's accepted that dramatic licenses will be taken. I the problem here is how the view they are showing on her is so poor. Compared to a film like La Môme, also a very interesting character, it's very poor. 

Perhaps it fails as a biopic, but does it still work as a film? I suppose so. There's a story to it, you engage in her story... you're introduced to the world of Violeta Parra, just not in all its complexity. One thing is that characters are confusing, I've heard people talking about it (who's that?!). It wants to be an introduction but it also doesn't explain everything (which would mean it's for people who are already familiar with her life.

Still, it's visually very attractive. The music is used reasonably - entirely performed by the actress who does an amazing job as she really turns into her. The sounds... is ok, not great. The editing is a bit weird. There's something wrong with the continuity in between takes (who else notices but me?).

By the end it gets a little... hm. Okay, everyone knows she committed suicide. She had several attempts. So I was curious to see how it was shown. And it doesn't show anything gross or demeaning, which is good. But it doesn't really portray the sadness and difficult times she was in (not just because a lover left her, but because she was suffering in other aspects of her life). It makes it look like a sudden thing, an impulse, when she had been in pain for a while.

I enjoyed the film, I can't say I didn't but it could have been a lot better (especially for all the things I had read about it).

Violeta

Las marimbas del infierno - J. Hernández Cordón (2010)

What to say about this film. It's short and maybe it has an extra 10 mins. I have to confess it took me a few attempts to finish it (but I must have been tired).

The story is original... what I liked the most was that it is fiction but it looks like documentary and you aren't quite sure when it's being what. The photography is simple yet nicely done. Also, it's always nice when you get to see a film from a country you don't normally see films from.

But I didn't love it. Perhaps it needed a little more charm. I read things about it and most mentioned "Jim Jarmusch sense of humour". Perhaps that's what I didn't get.

Las marimbas del infierno