Mejor no Hablar (de Ciertas Cosas)
Well, an Ecuadorian movie for a change (though I have already talked about Pescador a movie by perhaps the best Ecuadorian film director, Sebastián Cordero).
Paco and Luis are two brothers whose parents are rich. Their entire lives are spent in drinking, smoking and having sex, but while Paco, the oldest, is a little more balanced, Luis is truly a loose cannon. Luis is a rock singer and a drug addict who cannot control himself. He si not even living with his family because his parents are fed up with his actions. One night, in order to get money for his addiction, Luis returns home expecting his parents not to be there and tries to steal a small but valuable sculpture of a horseman, but his parents arrive earlier than expected. Their father gets awfully mad and in the ensuing fight something happens (the film does not show it but apparently they cause their father's death somehow and involuntarily). From then on is just one thing after the next. Paco is in love with Lucía who is a married woman and the mother of a child. Lucía abandons his husband to go live with Paco. Paco and Luis are the only inhabitants of the house becuase their mother and also their sister have moved to Miami. Luis gets only worse and frequently visits Lagarto, a drug dealer, and the man who received the little sculpture. Luis also insists in becoming a famous rocker and in this he is receiving unexpected help: Lucía's husband is in love with him and helps Luis to makes his dreams come true. On his father's bitrhday, a nostalgic Luis decides to get back the sculpture as a sort of present for his late father's memory but Lagarto (Carlos Crespo) does not want to return the sculpture so Luis comes back to Lagarto's when lagarto is out and the sculpture is only kept by Lagarto´s children whom he attacks with a baseball bat. That night in revenge, Lagarto and another man enter the house and kill Luis, Lucía and her husband while Paco and Luciá´s child are spared because they were at the bathroom. Lucía's father, a powerful politician sends the Police to "make justice" after he knows thanks to Paco who murdered his daughter. In the end Paco abandons his addiction and decides to become a politician.
As you can see, there is nothing exemplary about any of the characters and in fact the film is just another story about disfunctional people, something that many other movies have already covered in the past. the virtue of this film, perhaps the most important is that is an Ecuadorian film and as such it stands out as an original product. But beyond that there is not much. In fact I would say that the portrait it makes of those living in that part of Ecuador and in that specific social level is a bit distorted. One thing that bothers me is the foul language used almost every five seconds. It is not true that all the Ecuadorian youngsters speak like that. There are people who truly communicate that way but they are the exception not the rule. That aspect is a severely incorrect portrayal of who we are, or at least, how we speak. Also this pessimistic or "realistic" take reminds me of Sebastián Cordero. His influenec on this film is undeniable.
Now on the things I liked. Crespo as Lagarto is quite convincing but I could not take away the image of Blanquito (his character in Pescador) from my mind every time I saw him on the screen . His best scene is when he is at hospital probably because of his children. As he is waiting he sees at a Tv scrren the concert in which Luis is performing. His eyes truly seemed full of hate! The other actors delivered pretty good performances but I sill wonder if there were not overacting at some point. The plot sometimes flies but not too much. The photography contributes to create this feeling that the film is really a window to crude but very true reality. There are not many beautiful takes because everything about these brothers is decadent as though it is not only them but everything they come in contact with even Portoviejo, the city where this all happens. We have to pay attention at how the movie begins (with a middle teen, Paco, about to have his first sex experience with a prostitute) and the same teen appearing again at the end. It is a way to say that Paco is really used. He is with the prostitute probably because his father made him and he is at the end again to prove that he has never stopped being that teen.
This is a film with many themes: drug addiction, disfunctional people, corruption, revenge, family problems...too many things to cover in only one film. it is obviously not a family film but it is agood film nonetheless. You will not find it exceptional in any aspect save by the one that is, as I said before, Ecuadorian and as such an impudent report of who and how we are.
Three stars out of five for this one.
As you can see, there is nothing exemplary about any of the characters and in fact the film is just another story about disfunctional people, something that many other movies have already covered in the past. the virtue of this film, perhaps the most important is that is an Ecuadorian film and as such it stands out as an original product. But beyond that there is not much. In fact I would say that the portrait it makes of those living in that part of Ecuador and in that specific social level is a bit distorted. One thing that bothers me is the foul language used almost every five seconds. It is not true that all the Ecuadorian youngsters speak like that. There are people who truly communicate that way but they are the exception not the rule. That aspect is a severely incorrect portrayal of who we are, or at least, how we speak. Also this pessimistic or "realistic" take reminds me of Sebastián Cordero. His influenec on this film is undeniable.
Now on the things I liked. Crespo as Lagarto is quite convincing but I could not take away the image of Blanquito (his character in Pescador) from my mind every time I saw him on the screen . His best scene is when he is at hospital probably because of his children. As he is waiting he sees at a Tv scrren the concert in which Luis is performing. His eyes truly seemed full of hate! The other actors delivered pretty good performances but I sill wonder if there were not overacting at some point. The plot sometimes flies but not too much. The photography contributes to create this feeling that the film is really a window to crude but very true reality. There are not many beautiful takes because everything about these brothers is decadent as though it is not only them but everything they come in contact with even Portoviejo, the city where this all happens. We have to pay attention at how the movie begins (with a middle teen, Paco, about to have his first sex experience with a prostitute) and the same teen appearing again at the end. It is a way to say that Paco is really used. He is with the prostitute probably because his father made him and he is at the end again to prove that he has never stopped being that teen.
This is a film with many themes: drug addiction, disfunctional people, corruption, revenge, family problems...too many things to cover in only one film. it is obviously not a family film but it is agood film nonetheless. You will not find it exceptional in any aspect save by the one that is, as I said before, Ecuadorian and as such an impudent report of who and how we are.
Three stars out of five for this one.
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