El silencio de Neto

I think this movie is great, Its the classical story of a kid entering puberty, but at the same time shows a lot of Guatemala's culture of the time (50's) which in some ways hasn't changed. It manages to present the movie in a turbulent political time while not completly turning to one side.

I liked this movie a lot for many reasons. It shows how life was for a young teenager in 1950's Guatemala; Another reason is because it shows the coming of age of Neto and how his struggle to speak up. To truly express himself. Also I liked this movie because I«m from Guatemala and I«m happy to see such a good movie produced in my country.

I have this one on DVD cause I bought it at a book fair years ago. I watched it then and was not impressed. Today, it rang a little different due to the political undertones happening in Guatemala. It does a good job of telling a coming-of-age story in the middle of such a tumultuous political event as was Arbenz' coup d'etat.

Neto is not a particularly interesting character and I think that's where the film fails to connect. In fact, the only interesting character is the uncle because he's the only one bringing much needed conflict into the plot and giving Neto that push to come out of his shell. This is, again, another one of those films you should watch if you want to get invested in Guatemalan film history, but I wouldn't recommend it otherwise.

A lovely story of the Guatamalan way of life from the past. An extended family copes with political upheaval. Three boys of the new generation are growing up while three brothers of the one before follow different paths. Several interesting women, especially the wife of one brother and mother of Neto, one of the boys. The unwanted intrusion of outside power and politics is depicted, but not oppressive.

Different class levels are shown. Neto accuses the servant girl of being "just an Indian". She replies gently they are all Indian. The father's job ends in one upheaval, but he quickly seems to find another. Small hot air balloons are a fad in the family and are interesting. Neto is troubled by asthma, which may be related to his "silence".

Transitions were beautifully crafted to make the film flow from scene to scene flawlessly. The soundtrack was gripping from start to finish. It also accurately depicts what its like to be gay in Guatemala in the 50's as I should know ; ). Neto's character was very relatable in the way in which he faked asthma attacks to get close to his maid. The Lord knows I've done this hundreds of times over. #Relatable #Accurate #Blessed