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The debut film from director Fernando Villarán, Viejos Amigos is one of the most anticipated local films of the year. For some odd reason, its theatrical run has kicked off on the same week it plays at the Lima Film Festival, which just means that everyone now has a chance to see it. The question is, is it worth it? Despite some obvious problems, the answer is largely yes.Balo (Ricardo Blume), Villarán (Enrique Victoria) and Domingo (Carlos Gassols) are lifelong friends in their 80s, attending the funeral of their fourth comrade, Quique. On a whim, and fueled by their animosity towards the departed's shrewish wife, they steal the urn containing the ashes and are thrust into a series of misadventures,The plot's pretty slight, but the real pleasure of...

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Senior citizens in movies tend to come in two flavors: kindly grandfather types who offer words of wisdom, or grumpy, mischievous old coots with a twinkle in their eye who haven't forgotten what it's like to be young. It looks like we'll be getting a bit of both in the new Peruvian comedy Viejos Amigos. It's the directorial debut for Fernando Villarán, who makes the jump to film after a successful career in advertising.Villarán scored quite a casting coup for his first feature, bringing together three of the most experienced and respected actors in our local scene: Carlos Gassols, Enrique Victoria and Ricardo Blume, who makes a return to Peruvian movies after a successful career in Mexico for over thirty years; his last credit in...

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Directors: Daniel Vega Vidal, Diego Vega Vidal Writers: Daniel Vega Vidal, Diego Vega Vidal Starring: Bruno Odar, Gabriela Velásquez, Carlos Gassols, María Carbajal Octubre takes the risk of placing at its center a character who is stubbornly passive and almost totally inexpressive. Set in Lima, Peru during the incense haze and sweeping processions of the annual Lord of Miracles festival, the film tells the story of a cold and emotionally inert pawnbroker named Clemente (Bruno Odar), who lives alone in a rundown apartment with cracked walls and peeling wallpaper and maintains a modest business lending small amounts of cash to everyday people facing hard times. For Clemente, life is a series of transactions, exchanges, barters, and cons. He makes his loans, collects the interest, and then when the workday is done, visits prostitutes in ramshackle brothels, leaves his cash behind, and walks back into the night. This is really the...

Reviewed by Amanda Georges

(May 2011)

Directed/Written by: Daniel Vega Vidal and Diego Vega Vidal

Starring: Bruno Odar, Gabriela Velásquez and Carlos Gassols

Clemente (Bruno Odar), a small-time pawnbroker, gazes through his jeweler’s eye loupe as he appraises family treasures brought to him by desperate customers hoping for some quick cash. They sit only a few feet across the table from him, but he cannot see their faces past the trinkets gleaming in his hand. In a much too predictable fashion, his worldview gets broadened past the magnifying glass because of a woman and a child.

The Peruvian film “Octubre” from brothers Daniel Vega Vidal and Diego Vega Vidal, which won the jury prize at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, is unable to expand its own limited view past unoriginal style and characterizations. The film is filled with half thoughts and characters who are not fully dimensional. The film lacks...

Reviewed by Amanda Georges

(May 2011)

Directed/Written by: Daniel Vega Vidal and Diego Vega Vidal

Starring: Bruno Odar, Gabriela Velásquez and Carlos Gassols

Clemente (Bruno Odar), a small-time pawnbroker, gazes through his jeweler’s eye loupe as he appraises family treasures brought to him by desperate customers hoping for some quick cash. They sit only a few feet across the table from him, but he cannot see their faces past the trinkets gleaming in his hand. In a much too predictable fashion, his worldview gets broadened past the magnifying glass because of a woman and a child.

The Peruvian film “Octubre” from brothers Daniel Vega Vidal and Diego Vega Vidal, which won the jury prize at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, is unable to expand its own limited view past unoriginal style and characterizations. The film is filled with half thoughts and characters who are not fully dimensional. The film lacks...