Showing posts with label Amores Perros. Show all posts

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Desde Allá: Confronts the Macho Stereotypes in Venezuela

By Jose Alberto Hermosillo

The macho stereotypes of Latino men had never been shown so vividly and questionably in a movie until “From Afar” or “Desde allá” came into the game.

“From Afar” is a sensual, risqué, and sexually divergent. It is a hyper-realistic motion picture that illustrates how raw and volatile the sexual life of Latin men is.

Lorenzo Vigas, AFI FEST, photo by Jose Alberto Hermosillo, Copyrights 2016

The winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival had a sold-out screening at the AFI FEST 2015 in Los Angeles, where we met the visionary director Lorenzo Vigas.

Lorenzo Vigas, director, “Desde allá.” Photo Jose Alberto Hermosillo

Vigas’s first work is masterful and very realistic. He takes us on a trip inside the box of the conglomerated geography of Caracas - showing the massive contrast between the affluent areas and the slums of the city, where young men steal, do drugs, and beat themselves to death - while the rich pass by indifferently.

The exciting camera work depicts the city as crude and depressing, highlighting its social divisions and contrasting environments.

The action starts with the fetishism and sexual deviations of an uneasy middle-aged denture artisan named Armando, marvelously portrayed by the renowned Chilean actor Alfredo Castro (Tony Manero, The Clan, Neruda, “No”).

Alfredo Castro is one of the best actors in Latin America. His performance in “Desde allá” is immaculate.

Armando’s family is wealthy, but he lives as a middle-class person in a strategically located apartment downtown.

Armando, afraid of intimacy, has an infatuation for young guys, whom he pays to show their naked backs while he enjoys masturbating.

The rule is to watch, not touch; everything must be done “From Afar.”

When Armando bumps into a young guy named Elder, extraordinarily played by newcomer Luis Silva, his world is turned upside down.

Elder has all the characteristics of the traditional macho, tough Latino man with nothing to lose, but the need for money leads him to prostitution because of his economic condition.

Silvio imparts liveliness, impetuosity, sensuality, and fresh air into the film.

Natural obsessions and social prejudices severely affect newly made relationships.

The tension builds up at Elder’s sister’s Quinceañera when he and Armando show up elegantly dressed for the “Barrio’s” celebration.

“Desde Allá” German poster.

Elder, naively, doesn’t know how to show his gratitude. After a few drinks, he publicly expresses his feelings for his benefactor, becoming a new world of discovery and contradictions.

Homophobia rules the streets, and people see the same gender love as treacherous.

They struggle to become intimate in the bedroom, and the mystery breaks the enchantment when the couple has sex for the first time.

“Desde allá” French poster.

Armando is obsessed with viewing naked men but cannot relate to anyone physically, placing emotional barriers on the people who are rare to him.

“Desde allá” Italian poster.

The Elder is impulsive and uses his body to express intense gratitude and contempt.

“Desde allá” accurately and seamlessly handles the universal themes of loneliness, lack of communication, and fear of expressing emotions, which are paradigms of our times.

The intricate screenplay, written by award-winning Mexican screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga (“Babel” and “The Burning Plain”), is based on an original story by Lorenzo Vigas.

The hyperrealistic style of “Desde Allá” is strident. It exposes the characters in focus, blurs the background, washes out the colors, and creates a closer connection between the actors and the audience.

The new fearless filmmakers pouring out of Latin America are revolutionizing how stories are told on the big screen. Many of those hyper-realistic movies maximize artistic value and lower production costs.

The award-winning Latino filmmakers that are taking the world by storm: Carlos Reygadas’ “Post Tenebras Lux,” Amat Escalante’s “Heli,” Gabriel Ripstein’s “600 Milles,” Michel Franco’s “Chronic,” Jairo Bustamante’s “Ixcanul,” Ciro Guerra’s “The Embrace of the Serpent,” Sebastián Silva’s “The Maid,” Lisandro Alonso’s “Jauja,” Sebastián Cordero’s “Cronicas,” Dana Rotberg “White Lies,” Alvaro Brechner’s “Mr. Kaplan,” Anna Muylaert’s “The Second Mother,” and David Pablos’ “Las elegidas/The Chosen Ones.”

“Desde allá” flows with authenticity and realism, showing the characters’ complexity with a humanist lens. It expands the cultural horizons of the viewers who may think, in this day and age, that to love another person from the same genre is insane, immoral, and, in some countries, a crime.

This Venezuelan film raises many questions: How much do homophobia and prejudices affect a person’s growth? Why do so many stigmas, discrimination, and stereotypes affect our society? How far can you go for someone you love? How would you love someone “from afar” if you were so close and afraid to be in love?

After the horrific attack in Orlando on the LGBTQ community, the timing of this movie from Venezuela couldn’t be any better because “Desde allá” puts the finger in the wound.

Desde Allá - From Afar, official trailer (2015) Venice Film Festival

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Flies High For Accomplishment and Awards

By José Alberto Hermosillo

This year, the Oscars have “Wings,” “The Great Ziegfeld” is back, “Birdman” is the “Artist” of the season, and the “Midnight Cowboy” of the decade.

The existentialist, hypnotic, dark comedy, masterfully directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu (“Amores Perros,” “Babel”) stands apart from his recurrent topics: violence, emptiness, immigration, human exploitation, but death. Death is obsessively present in every work done by Iñárritu.

Divided into three acts, like a theater play, “Birdman” tells the story of a lonely falling star who, years earlier, after playing an iconic superhero, made the wrong decisions in Hollywood. Now, the only way to stage his comeback is to produce, direct, and perform his play on Broadway: “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.”

The actor’s fading fame, divorce, age, his daughter’s rehab, his financial situation, and the lies of other actors left him struggling to survive.

Broadway is a jungle where everyone devours each other - actors, agents, lawyers, family, the public, and critics (remember the critics).

From the beginning, his “larger-than-life” alter ego plays “Funny Games” with him, making him behave in ways that are out of the ordinary and so crazy that people in the audience laugh: “You are Birdman; you are a God.”

To achieve his glorious return to the stage, the starving actor Reagan Thomson, played by Michael Keaton (“Batman,” “Speechless”), must be “nice” to everyone, including himself. Life will throw him some pretty rough situations.

“Birdman” is a pendulum swinging between long discussions and long silences—the player is always trying to find what truly matters in life.

“No need for drugs when you are already emotionally high.”

Antonio Sanchez’s strident drum score is jazzy, rhythmic, and sometimes a “wild mambo.” Toward the end, the drums become dissonant and chaotic, driving the story to total madness and culminating in an unexpected resolution.

This movie seems to be shot in three days, but its chronicle of the shooting is far more complicated than that. It requires planning, building, lighting, choreography, and many rehearsals to achieve perfect timing, so everything happens at the precise moment.

Directors, actors, cameramen, editors, and the sound department must hit their marks to make the story flawless. Their movements must flow seamlessly, like the choreography of “The Swan Lake.”

Let’s not forget the special effects, which come out of nowhere and are unique.

Technically and symbolically, “Birdman” is structured in three parts (first rehearsal, dress rehearsal, and preview). Those parts are interconnected through the film’s complex, long takes that follow the characters through the theater’s long hallways and sometimes out onto the streets.

Director of photography Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki (“Gravity,” “A New World,” “Tree of Life”) knows his craft and can challenge himself by using the same continuous “long takes” as in Cuarón’s “Children of Men,” only this time they repeat many times in “Birdman.” The Academy Award®-winning cinematographer is one of the best of his generation - Chivo is likely to win the Award for the second year in a row.

The shot of the Korean grocery store’s interior is magnificent. Those thousands of chili pepper-shaped lights are not only colorful or fantastic but breathtaking, in one word: marvelous!

Michael Keaton is phenomenal; his work with Iñárritu pushed the limits, delivering the best performance in his career.

Javier Bardem, working with Iñárritu, got an Oscar nomination in 2010 for “Biutiful,” and now Keaton will most likely get an Oscar nomination for his magnificent performance in “Birdman.” He is the front-runner to win gold.

Edward Norton, always controversial, ignites the big screen with his powerful presence.

Zach Galifianakis’ performance is the best of his career. Emma Stone is superb and represents a new generation of Hollywood’s great young actors. Everyone is just fantastic.

“Birdman, or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” deserves multiple nominations and awards, a simple story in a complex movie that aspires to perfection.

BIRDMAN trailer

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