El Señor Presidente

A movie co-produced by RCTV, yes that TV station Hugo Chavez shutdown, The cast is almost from the stars of RCTV's soap operas. The story is shocking and freaking similar to what is happening right now in Venezuela, and what could happen in the future.

The producer had to cross and jump to several obstacles, like the lack of budgets and the permissions, in fact the movie was shot completely under secrecy, they had to lie about the content of the screenplay in order to get certain permission.

The movie was shot with HD cameras and with no sound editing/mixing.

The performance of actress/model Norkys Batista (debuting in movies) is absolutely great, plus she got a though role (Fedina), the story of this mother is completely shocking. Also the performance of Gustavo Rodriguez as Chavez, eh, I mean, The President. But please, don't miss Roberto Moll as Lucio.

This movie has being very controversial in Venezuela, I hope you can see this movie, there was plans to show it on certain movie festivals. Also I hope the director and producer could release a DVD version because the movie will be more enjoyable.

An outstanding adaptation of the book by Nobel prize winner Miguel Angel Asturias. Guardia's film shines through his astute use of very limited resources. The film's dark and highly stylized scenes set the mood of decadence and corruption that surrounds El Presidente's world. The mind-numbing effect of repeated phrases, the lack of distinction between dreams and reality, the use of "magical realism", all are cleverly translated into the film to tell a love story amidst the terror of a brutal and amoral dictatorship. As another reviewer already mentioned, the film had to be shot in secrecy, as the current Venezuelan government felt strongly identified with the portrayal of the corrupt regime of El Presidente. Any similarities with real life in Venezuela are very intentional. Watch it, you'll love it.