Diablo

Marcos, a Jewish Argentine-Peruvian boxer is known by several sobriquets, among them Diablo (Devil) and El Inca del Sinai (the Inca from Sinai). His career has been halted, at least temporarily by his killing of his last opponent in the ring. Not everything is going badly, however; his estranged girlfriend seems willing to reconnect. He then receives the visit of Huguito, his cousin, who is on the run from the mob for a botched drug deal. In the rest of the movie we are in Marcos' modest house. He has a dangerous propensity to open his door to all callers (who are after Huguito) and scenes of awesome violence follow. At the end, the body count is in the teens and the house is smeared with blood and gore everywhere.

There are indications that the film is a comedy; for instance, the rabbi that induces Marcos to murderous violence in the ring, the ill used liver, the last duel where Marcos' opponent is a Rambo lookalike, Marcos' cool nonchalance on his house being overrun with corpses. Although Jim Thompson is quoted in one of the opening screens, the proceedings have nothing of the size of Thompson's work, they rather connect with the worst movies of Tarantino or Rodríguez.

I don't see any merits in this film, taken as drama or as black comedy, except for the colorful Spanish used in Buenos Aires, although here it is limited to insult and abuse. All in all, a failure whose viewing leaves us with a sense of wasted time.

Not knowing what to expect coming into this little Argentine exploitation film, I allowed myself to fully immerse myself into the situation faced by these characters and give it every opportunity to impress me, and impress me it did! The fact that the movie is simple really plays into its hands. Niconar Loreti has planned and executed Diablo with a lot of confidence, which ultimately allows the viewer to enjoy themselves without unnecessary plot devices. Funny, entertaining, crude, violent, surreal, are just some words that can be used to sum up this movie about a boxer, down on his luck, who gets unwanted visitors in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. If movies like Hobo with a Shotgun are your thing, then Diablo is essential viewing!

Diablo is an Argentine film, Spanish language, but the film is subtitled (and pretty accurately as far as subtitles go). Read the IMDb synopsis for the storyline as I'll simply address the film's quality and emotional content.

Technically everything is above par considering the film is low budget, great camera-work, set design, makeup, etc. The film also shines where stunt-work is concerned, next to acting caliber little exposes this type of film's lack of budget than it's ability to pull off fights, gunfire, etc. and while Diablo is certainly not an action film per se, it does quite well staging what action is necessary to tell it's story.

I have to say I've seen many, many contemporary independent films that attempt to weave together the elements usually associated with the crime genre, and the results are all too often convoluted and dull. Because technical expertise in filmaking is not lacking these days, filmmakers have it in spades, but storytelling ability and screen presence? Those are the qualities not always present in many genre films IMHO. Fortunately Diablo has no such problem, direction and writing are extremely tight and along with the excellent performances are what make this film fly.

Diablo is a violent, crude, and gritty film filled with black humor and completely void of pretty faced actors, not for the faint hearted or those with a semblance of normalcy. That I usually loathe the nihilistic tone in many of today's films yet recommend this speaks to the film's ability to engage. My guess is the filmmakers might cite Tarentino as an influence, yet Diablo's dialog and use of humor does not draw attention to itself in the same way Tarentino's work does. This film is not a masterpiece of cinema but the direction, writing, Juan Palomino's lead performance, and the film's characters are entirely interesting and unique. Highly recommended.