MargaretW-46

Smart, clever multilayered story that keeps you guessing about the relationship of the two main characters. Particularly good is Hatzin Navarrete giving a mostly intense and internalized performance as the young man we follow trying to reconcile his daddy issues. As the film plays against a backdrop of the injustice of cheap labor workers, the central tension builds to a powerful and thoughtful climax.

Venezuela's submission for this year's 95th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film. Very much worth a watch. Recommended. Sadly, venezuela seems to have lost this great auteur...........

This is my first indonesian film and I think I am going to explore more of its art house stuff to get a deeper understanding about their politics and revolution. Thematically this film didn't say anything that wasn't said before. But the character dynamics were very familiar and spoke of a certain Indian or a South Asian sensibility. I thought the film would experiment with the aspect of Stockholm syndrome and I thought I saw it going in that direction in the karoke scene but it could just be me. It would have been a much more interesting watch for me if that had happened. But again that's just me. That's obviously not what was intended. But playing on a familiar ground with a familiar narrative the direction couldn't have demanded anything more.

EL AMPARO tells the true story of two survivors of an army attack in 1988 Venezuela. The men's fishing party was mistaken for a camp of rebel guerrillas and fired upon; two men escape back to their village and are put in jail, at first on suspicion of being rebels but later to protect them against being kidnapped or murdered. The army naturally doesn't want to admit it made a mistake, so the men are placed under intense pressure to 'confess' to being rebels with vague promises of a quiet amnesty and reward at a later date. Having no faith that the state will hold up its end of the bargain (and not wanting to admit to a crime they didn't commit), the men resist.

This is the case of a film where the content is more important than the style or technical achievement. It's an important story and well worth bringing to the screen. The production and direction are frankly pretty flat and uninteresting, but the performances are quite natural and it was cool to watch the women of the village take the lead and organize to protect the two men (and the memory of their dead husbands / sons / brothers). Solid, worthwhile watch.