El cielo rojo

El Cielo Rojo seems like a poorly done movie by the Costarican producer and director, Miguel Gomez. First impressions are a big part of cinema, and the one shown by this movie does not suggest professional movie making.

Even though it does not show a professional first impression, once the audience gets into the movie there is a little more positive aspects. El Cielo Rojo does an incredible job showing the life of a great part of Costa Rican youth after high school and before the university. It accurately shows the confrontations of teenagers and how much their family have to do in their decisions. There are several important factor from this movie, showing personality traits that may or may not belong to only Costa Rican youth. As a result, the audience interested in the film is probably going to get reduced. In no way will a old German man enjoy seeing how Roberto insults other guys in order to look like a macho man. On the other hand, the audience to which the movie is actually made to enjoy, finds it accurate and funny. This happens because Miguel Gomez did an outstanding job suggesting a problem that a big part of Costa Ricans have. El Cielo Rojo also shows several scenes that make the Costa Rican audience feel identified to the four main characters of the movie. A perfect example is when they go to Palmares. Palmares is known all over Costa Rica and including it in a movie helps to make it seem like a real issue that actually affects Costa Rican youth.

In more technical aspects, El Cielo Rojo fell behind. The lack of interest in cinema in Costa Rica is evident in the final product. Even though cinema is growing in Costa Rica, it is still evident if a producer spent a considerable amount of money in the making or if he simply did the best he or she could do with what he or she had. There were still some interesting shots, for example the rotating camera around characters. The camera placement in the car was a bit unpleasant because it was in a weird position, and as a result there were some awkward shots in the scene of the car. The general lighting of the movie was satisfactory but there was a couple of scenes where more light would have probably helped a lot. For example when they go to Tarbaca, the four characters walk in a lonely and dark street and it can be understood the feeling the director is trying to create with that, but he did it in way where we cannot really look at their faces. It is also important to talk about the little resources that were used to make this movie. The making of El Cielo Rojo probably did not require more than ten thousand dollars, therefore, there is a limited amount of professionalism. Without money, there is no way professional cameras could be bought, for example, and the same things happens with lighting, editing, and special effects. Nationalism and pride is also a big part of the movie. Gordo constantly complains of Nestor not going to watch Costa Rican movies, and also insults him and tells him Costa Rica is where it is because of people like him that cannot even buy a national band CD. The movie also contains a lot of Costa Rican music, which is a great aspect and reflects the nationalism present in the film. The soundtrack of the movie is awesome. It lets the audience appreciate Costa Rican talent and at the same time is perfectly synchronized with the movie to give the audience different feelings throughout the film. An ideal example of this is when the main character is depressed about his old man's death, Miguel Gomez included a type of music that went perfectly with the emotions felt by the character and the audience. Miguel Gomez could have improved some technical aspects but in general, with the amount of money he decided to invest in the film, he did a satisfactory job using what he had.

There is one aspect where it could be said that El Cielo Rojo did an outstanding job, the acting. Mauricio Dapena, Ricardo Rodríguez, Édgar Román, Allen Obando did an amazing job making the role of Costa Rican teenagers, and their job should be applauded. Costa Rican teenagers have a very specific way o f being, and the fact the these four actors actually went through this stage, make them ideal for the role. An international professional actor would have probably have had a really hard time making the role of Costa Rican teens, therefore it could be concluded that the best option for these roles were the ones who were chosen. The language they used, was inappropriate, but at the same time the word choice was perfect. Cursing is a big part of Costa Rican language and Gordo had no trouble cursing at all. But again, this is just the reality of teenagers in the central American country.

In conclusion, El Cielo Rojo accurately portrayed the life of a part of the Costa Rican population. There are several technical aspects that could be improved but it is also take into account the low budget of the film. Several topics of importance were mentioned, such as rape, partying, and fighting, and all these topics are the ones that little by little construct Costa Rican society. The acting was outstanding and clearly showed the amount of talent that all these men have. Miguel Gomez is an inspiration and he should continue to be the amazing producer and director that he is, because is because of people like him cinema is growing in Costa Rica.