= Lame, Crummy.
= OK, Watchable.
= Good.
= Very Good.
= Great, Classic.
| Home |
= Lame, Crummy.
= OK, Watchable.
= Good.
= Very Good.
= Great, Classic.
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LA BOCA DEL LOBO (The Wolf's Mouth)
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El Sendero Luminoso has visited the Indian village of Chuspi in the Department of Cusco, leaving behind their flag
and threatening graffiti. The Peruvian army is sent in to apprehend the Senderistas
(we never see them on screen) or its sympathizers. One of the soldiers rapes a
girl in the village, and when she reports him to the lieutenant, the
lieutenant covers up the incident. When the same soldier tries to crash
a village party and is thrown out, the lieutentant once again feels he
has to cover up for him, leading to a series of events
that culminates in horrors. A terrifying cautionary tale of the
machismo that turns armies into marauders as evil as the enemy they were
sent to defeat. The official English title is "The Lion's Den," though the
original Spanish title means "The Wolf's Mouth."
Sinopsis en español:
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LA CASA ROSADA
(The Pink House)
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Adrián (José Luis Adrianzen), a university professor in Ayacucho, is suspected of terrorist activity solely on the basis
of his professorship (Abimael Guzmán, leader of the Sendero Luminoso, was also a professor in Ayacucho). Adrián is
taken to the Casa Rosada where he is tortured along with other suspects. His two young children, Juan de Dios
(Ricardo Bromley López) and María del Carmen (Shantall Lozano Rodríguez), are left to fend for themselves, since their
mother died some years ago. The scenes of torture at the Pink House are gratuitously gruesome, perhaps a sign of the
writer-director's beginnings in the nuevo cine andino, which is characterized by
exploitative violence. However, Palito Ortega Matute has grown artistically in all other aspects, having created here
one of the best and most moving films on the Shining Path. The only character who speaks Quechua is the unnamed
artesano who makes retablos (wooden sculptures inside a cupboard, Ayacucho's most famous craft), played by
Segundino Huamancusi.
facebook.com/La-Casa-Rosada-205570162869188
Sinopsis en español:
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THE DANCER UPSTAIRS
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A big-budget U.S. production with A-list actors Javier Bardem and Juan
Diego Botto, The Dancer Upstairs puts a police-story/love-story
spin on the terrorist reign of The Shining Path. Based on the novel by
English author Nicholas Shakespeare, the film doesn't mention The Shining
Path or even Peru by name, but it is closely based on the real events, the
major fictional departure being a love interest between the detective
(Bardem) and the woman harboring the leader of the terrorist group.
Bardem's character is part Indian and speaks Quechua, and Indigenous
actors speaking Quechua are used for some minor roles. It's
a fine film, complex and subtle, but too Hollywoodish and North American
in its references, actors, and soundtrack. U.S. audiences could have handled a
more authentically Latin American ambience, as they did with John Sayles'
Men with Guns (set in Guatemala.)
The most serious flaw in the film is that all the Indian characters are portrayed as
absolutely devoted to the Shining Path. One character says of their leader,
"He is the wind in every tree". The children in La vida es una sola (below) are
required to recite such pieties, but in The Dancer Upstairs the Indians do so
willingly, even fervently. We never see the Shining Path's horrifying recruiting practices.
Even when the detective travels to his home town, an Indigenous village where his father
once owned a coffee farm, we see no trace of dissidence, only militant revolutionaries.
The film fails to portray the Indians as humans except for the mestizo detective played
by a high-profile Spanish actor.
Sinopsis en español:
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DIOS TARDA PERO NO OLVIDA
(God Delays But Doesn't Forget)
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A group of Shining Path guerrilleros invade Patara, a community in Apurimac, and kill the
father of the boy Cirilo (played by Edwin Béjar Ochante). His mother sends him to Huamanga
to live with his aunt. But the aunt's husband is an abusive drunk, and Cirilo ends up
living on the street. He tries to make a living shining shoes and selling candy, and he
befriends another boy, Pepito (played by his brother, Nelson Bejar Ochante). Pepito finds
a job doing bad things for adults and moves to Lima, leaving Cirilo a bag of food and a
note. After more hard luck in Huamanga, Cirilo takes a bus to Lima to find his friend.
Ultra-low-budget film with non-actors. Followed by a sequel, Dios tarda pero no olvida
2, in 1999.
Sinopsis en español:
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DON MELCHO: AMIGO O ENEMIGO (Sir Melcho: Friend or Enemy)
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Based on the life of the controversial Don Melcho, a Robin Hood-type figure who gained
notoreity in the 1980s by bribing and corrupting officials and giving money to the poor.
He was semi-illiterate, and some say a delinquent, killer, and rapist. He was finally
captured and killed by a paramilitary group. A shorter version of this movie is available
on Youtube (in Spanish, no subtitles): youtube.com/watch?v=7Sr9tB9vJx8&feature=PlayList&p=B761F92B4B37AE56&index=0 Review (in Spanish): cinencuentro.com/2008/04/02/primeras-imagenes-de-don-melcho-amigo-o-enemigo-opera-prima-de-arnaldo-soriano
Sinopsis en español:
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NI CON DIOS NI CON EL DIABLO (With Neither God nor the Devil)
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Jeremías Ayunque (played by Marino Leon, who starred in Gregorio and its sequel
Anda, Corre, Vuela,), is a 16-year old alpaca herder in Pampamayo, a village in
Junín, Ayacucho. One day he finds
that an alpaca as delivered a two-headed calf. The village shaman interprets the omen to
mean that God and the Devil have made a pact against Jeremias. When Shining Path
terrorists come to the village, it looks as if the omen may come true,
and Jeremias flees his mountain home, heading for Lima. On the way he finds a job as
a stone-cutter in the frozen mountains, which he can only endure for one day. Once he
arrives in Lima, he seeks the help of his godfather to get a job as a construction
site security guard. One night he is mugged, and when he returns to work he finds that
the site has been burglarized and he loses his job. Finally, Jeremias finds a job as
a butler at a wealthy police chief's home. But here he learns that he is wanted as a
narcoterrorist for his presumed assocation with the Shining Path--the people who drove him
to Lima in the first place! As the title suggests, Ni con Dios ni con el diablo
is a pessimistic film (an unfortunate trend in Latin American movies of the 70s, 80s, and
90s). Occasional comic relief comes with his stint as a butler, when he learns how to
use a telephone and tries champagne for the first time.
The Shining Path only play a brief role on the screen, but the the film effectively shows the fate of thousands of campesinos who were driven from the countryside by the group's violence and swelled Lima's urban sprawl to its limits. Like Antuca and Gregorio (see below), it is an epic of the Indian arriving in the Big City. Unlike many other films on the Shining Path, however, Ni con Dios does show some of the more positive side of the socialist efforts of the time. The friends who help him get to Lima, for instance, are pamphleteers supporting unions.
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PALOMA DE PAPEL (Paper Dove)
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A village in the Andes is terrorized by El Sendero Luminoso. Three children are kidnapped
and forced to proclaim their allegiance to El Sendero. This film tells a very similar story
to that of La vida es una sola, but with higher production values, more like a
mainstream Hollywood movie. The tale is told through the reminiscences of a man who has
spent 20 years in prison for his involvement with the Sendero, even though he was only eleven
when they forcibly recruited him. Many viewers will prefer this film to La vida es una
sola, though I prefer Marianne Eyde's earlier, grittier effort.
Sinopsis en español:
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LA ULTIMA NOTICIA
(The Latest News)
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Alonso, the host of a folk music radio show, finds himself drawn to journalism as the Sendero Luminoso
increases their terrorist activity in Ayacucho. He changes the format of his show to news, but he quickly becomes the
target of the Sendero, receiving threats for reporting on their activity. His friend, a university professor with
communist leanings, is also caught up in the terror, and watches as one of his students is drawn to the Sendero. It's
a good movie, but feels a little redundant after so many other films on the topic, especially since it was released
around the same time as La Casa Rosada, which also concerns a university professor accused of terrorism. facebook.com/laultimanoticia
Sinopsis en español:
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LA VIDA ES UNA SOLA (You Only Live Once)
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Three college students visit the mountain village of Rayopampa during a carnival. They partake
of the festivities, and a local girl, Florinda, falls in love with Marcelino, one of the
visitors. As visitors begin talking about organizing the community, the villagers
realize that these are members of the Sendero Luminoso sent to recuit them. The community leaders debate about
whether to report the visitors to the local authorities--the defense civil, but before they can settle the issue,
defensa civil arrives, sniffing out trouble. They demand food and then go away.
The next day, Teodisio, the community president, receives a death threat for feeding the
authorities, the oppressors, and they find a communist flag and graffiti. Teodosio goes
to the authorities downhill, who rudely deny assistance and tell Teodosio he should be
willing to sacrifice his life for his country. The next day, Teodosio's body is found with
a sign labelling him a soplón (whistle-blower), and another threat that anyone who
buries him will also die. When the Sendero Luminoso returns, they recruit several villagers,
including children, into their army, and a clash between the Senderistas and the Defensa
Civil breaks out. Of all the films on the Shining Path, La vida es una sola is the
most harrowing, showing how both the terrorists and the government claimed the campesinos
as their own, but were equally cruel in disregarding their lives and safety. Yet it is
also beautiful at times, with its lovely folk tunes and occasionally poetic dialogue.
Available on cineaparte.com/p/153/la-vida-es-una-sola in some countries. Director Marianne Eyde was born in Norway and moved to Peru in the 70s and founded Kusi Films. She filmed this movie--her third--in the community of Ccachín in Calca Province, Cusco, and used local, non-professional actors for most of the parts as well as the music. Thus the scenery, costumes, rituals, and festivities are all very authentic (although the people of Ccachín probably speak more Quechua than they do in the film). Cinematographer César Pérez also worked with Jorge Sanjines, and through constant, circular movement he gives this film that same newsreel feeling of urgency and inevitability that animates Sanjines' work.
Cast:
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GREGORIO
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An Andean family moves from their ancestral mountain village to Lima in
order to find work, and they experience a culture shock
at the noise, confusion, and inhuman sprawl of the city. When the father dies,
12-year-old Gregorio (Marino León de la Torre) must work as a lustrabotas (shoeshiner),
making a long daily trek from the shantytown slums to the city center. Working on the streets,
he befriends a gang of street punks and is lured into a life of petty
crime. The film begins in Quechua and switches abruptly to Spanish upon
arrival in the metropolis, and the story is occasionally interspersed with
scenes of a slightly older Gregorio facing the camera and telling what he
has learned from his experiences. Thus the film has a documentary feel to
it, which the filmmakers gradually move away from in the next two films in
the series, Juliana and Anda, Corre, Vuela. Available on Vimeo: vimeopro.com/grupochaski/produccion-cinematografica-del-grupoc-chaski/video/92046986 (no subtitles for the Spanish dialogue, only for Quechua)
Sinopsis en español:
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JULIANA
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Juliana (played by Rosa Isabel Morffino) is a 13-year-old girl who sells
flowers at the cemetery. Envying the more freewheeling life of her little
brother, she abandons her mother and stepfather and disguises herself as
a boy to join her little brother's street gang, led by the creepy Don
Pedro and his sidekick Cobra. They sell cigarettes, perform on buses,
whatever brings in a little money to hand over to Don Pedro for the
privilege of living in his hideout. Juliana shows hardly any trace
of Indian culture, as these slum kids are disconnected from their
ancestral inheritance by the forces of poverty and neglect. Although the
two films are not related, the main characters of Juliana and
Gregorio come together in the film Anda, Corre, Vuela. The
film won awards in Berlin, Biarritz, and Huelva, Spain. Available on Vimeo: vimeopro.com/grupochaski/produccion-cinematografica-del-grupoc-chaski/video/55637708 (no subtitles)
Sinopsis en español:
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ANDA, CORRE, VUELA (Go, Run, Fly)
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Gregorio and Juliana, now 19 and 21, are young adults faced with the
meager opportunities available to people in Lima in the 1990s, when the
armed forces and the communist terrorist group El Sendero Luminoso ripped
the country apart in civil war. With humor and creativity Gregorio and
Juliana learn to survive in this violent world. The rock soundtrack and
action-movie-style editing are quite a stretch from the quasi-documentary
style of Gregorio, thereby creating a sense of completion to the
trilogy, which traces the path of Indian integration into mainstream
society, for better or for worse. Available on Vimeo: vimeopro.com/grupochaski/produccion-cinematografica-del-grupoc-chaski/video/55637708 (no subtitles)
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The Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement was formed in 1980 by Víctor Polay Campos, culling members from the Marxist-Leninist Revolutionary
Socialist Party and the militant faction of the Revolutionary Left Movement. The MRTA had several hundred members, but was only a fraction
of the size of the Sendero Luminoso. The MRTA differed from the Sendero in several ways: they were less clandestine, wearing uniforms and
claiming responsibility for their actions, wore uniforms. They generally refrained from attacking unarmed civilians, and were more open to
negotiations. This more humane side of the organization may be regarded in Bel Canto as the cause of their downfall.
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BEL CANTO
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Neither the film nor Ann Patchet's novel names the Spanish-speaking country where the story takes place, but the Japanese president (named
Mesuda), the terrorist group, and the garúa (a very fine drizzle unique to Lima) would make the setting easily identifiable as Peru
in the 80s or 90s, even if the story were not based on an actual siege in 1996. A terrorist group attacks the vice-president's house,
hoping to kidnap the president, who stayed home to watch his telenovela
instead of keeping his appointment with the Japanese industrialist and famous opera singer (played by Julianne Moore). Their plans foiled,
the terrorists hold everyone hostage for several days while they wait for the government to meet their demands for a release of all
political prisoners. During the week or so, the terrorists and hostages get to know each other. Some teach each other languages, or
chess, or singing, and some fall in love. It all happens gradually in the beautiful prose of Patchet's novel, but the accelerated pace
of the film robs the changing relationships of all believability. Surely an attempt to capture the president would have been carried out
by the best-trained and most trustworthy soldiers, but in this film they are trusting, hesistant, and sometimes downright incompetent or
traitorous to their own cause, which chips away at the credibility of the movie.
And then there's the inauthemticity of basing a film on a historical Peruvian event, but getting so much wrong. One of the terrorists, played by Guatemalan actress María Mercedes Coroy, speaks what seems to be an indigenous language, but it isn't Quechua or Aymara--it's probably the Kaqchikel she spoke Ixcanul. The commanders of the siege are played by Mexican actors Tenoch Huerta La Carga, El Encanto del Aguila), and Noé Hernández La Tirisia, Tiempo de Lluvia). There is also brief shot of a pyramid which is like no known pyramid in Peru. The siege that inspired the novel actually took place at the home of the Japanese ambassador to Peru from December 17, 1996 to April 22, 1997 (often mistakenly described as taking place at the embassy itself). Fourteen members of the MRTA blasted through a wall of the residence during a birthday party for the embassador and held them hostage for 126 days. The foreign women were released the first night, and most other foreigners in the next few days, and towards the end only 72 men remained hostage. The military counter-attack was known as Operación Chavín de Huántar, alluding to the archaeological site of one of the oldest and most influential cultures of ancient Peru (perhaps in response to the terrorists' use of the Inka name Túpac Amaru). On April 22, a team of 140 soldiers burst into the house, and all 14 MRTA guerrillas were killed. One of the hostages and two soldiers also died in the rescue mission. Although the military victory was initially popular with Peruvians, objections were later raised about the extrajudicial slaying of some of the guerrillas who had surrendered, and the torture used on others. Families of some of the guerrillas cited anonymous burials and lack of autopsies in their complaints. In 2007 a classified U.S. cable revealed that Fujimori ordered that all guerrillas be killed. The youngest guerrilla, 17-year-old Herma Luz Meléndez, was probably the inspiration for the character of Carmen played by María Mercedes Coroy. The Italian term bel canto refers to a vocal style popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries. In 2015 an opera based on Patchet's novel premiered, by Peruvian composer Jimmy López and Cuban-American librettist Nilo Cruz.
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I haven't seen most of these films. Some of them may not have much indigneous content.
Alias la gringa (Alberto Durant, 1986)
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