The Distinguished Citizen

Being an Argentine (sans the Nobel prize as the main protagonist achieved) away from Argentina for over 43 years I could totally relate to the topic of this movie. I liked the main character in how clear he is about his convictions, his work, his principles and how all of this clashes against the bureaucracy, guilt, jealousy which awaits for him when he comes home... The movie is a great study of change and lack of change. His travel brings him perspective and intelligence ... The main character is a writer who forces himself to go back to his birth place and finds a world which has not changed and which projects onto him what they want him to be. This may happen to many of you writing when you go back home after not being there for a while... this movie is an extreme case of that: going back from a first world to the third world he came from. (Not Buenos Aires but a small town 500 miles from B.A.)

The story is worth watching, and if you are from some small places like me, you can feel related if you understand that it's not trying to be subtle, and if you have found some of those bizarre characters in little towns, you are going to find this not surreal at all. Writing is good and I suspect the only reason (besides the leading actor) this have got some prices. But sadly but the movie it's badly directed, and the worst part for me it's photography, I don't care if they didn't have a huge budget, you could do much better with a decent director of photography. The feeling of cheapness comes from a poor and amateurish use of camera and lighting, not from the equipment used.

Predictable, for sure, but there were quite a few funny moments throughout the film that managed to win me over. I commend the lead (Oscar Martínez)for the subtlety he brought to this role in order to make the part(and the situations)convincingly amusing. Understanding or navigating the nuances of a foreign culture, even when the culture is from one's own childhood, can be a tricky task.

You know the excitement of life: the Nobel Prize from the Royal Family, and the Outstanding Citizen Award from the Mayor. You all know the embarrassment of life: sitting on the plane and hearing your name on the radio, recording a TV program suddenly inserted ads. Inexplicable in life, you all know: you have to buy a wheelchair for fellow teenagers, and you have to go to the invitation of strangers. The cemetery where the former residence was used for other purposes is deserted: you just don't know where this homesickness is placed.

Thomas Wolfe once wrote that we can never go home again. He meant that we could not go back to a time when home was the same as it is in our memories. Homes change, cities change, people change; everything changes. That is the theme of the wonderful Argentinian film " The Distinguished Citizen". It is a well-written, well-directed, and well-acted film about trying to go home again, and the ultimate impossibility of accomplishing a goal that meets our memories. I generally do not like films about writers; and I particularly loathe films about writers with "writer's block" because there is no such thing. A writer writes, all the time, and never has enough time to write about all the things he or she wants to write about. I am a writer. I have several books on Amazon. I could never stop writing. A real writer never stops writing for any reason. But this film does not really center on writer's block; it is about trying to recapture one's past. And of course, the protagonist is doomed in his quest. The film goes on to show us why. If you are a successful writer, people will be jealous and try to discredit you. If you are an unsuccessful writer, people will encourage you and give you more credit than you deserve. Writing is too important to be left to the uninspired. The acting is first rate and I recommend this film highly.