El cielo rojo

​Fly to the closest theater to watch "El Cielo Rojo"

By Sergio Madrigal

In my Film Appreciation class we recently watched this Costa Rican production. The movie was the most enjoyable movies that we watched in the whole semester. This movie mixes Latin American drama with some comedy and that gives a very positive outcome. I would rate this movie 8.5 out of 10, ten being extremely good. The movie tells the stories of four young Costa Rican friends just graduated from high school that are trying to figure out what to do with their lives. Throughout the story key events cause the boys to become better friends and to help each other overcome their problems. These four boys are Roberto, played by Allan Obando, Berny, played by Mauricio Dapena, Manuel, played by Ricardo Rodriguez and Nestor, played by Edgar Roman. Some of that conflicts are that Manuel has no idea what to do with his life, Nestor is getting into drugs but wants to be president of Costa Rica some day, and Berny reconsiders going to college in the USA after a break up with his girlfriend. Over all the plot is not very strong but because of the good script and the comic dialogue the movie ends up being extremely enjoyable specially if you have spent some or all your teen years in Costa Rica. The actors in this movie, just like on most Costa Rican movies, are very amateur. The actor that did the best job was Ricardo Rodriguez. He managed to always look as if his character was really himself and it was hard to know if he was really acting. All the other actors did a very good job but none was good as Ricardo Rodriguez. Something interesting about the acting in this movie is that as the movie progressed the acting became better and the actors seemed much more comfortable playing their roles. Over all, "El Cielo Rojo" is a very good movie that can make you have an extremely good time while watching it. What makes it most enjoyable is the comedy that Miguel Gomez chose to show frequently in the movie. The plot of the movie is a little weak but it can still get you engaged into it and want to know what happens next. Another thing that makes you like the movie is if you are a Costa Rican teenager because you can relate to the characters, the situations the way of speaking and the settings. The way the movie was shot also makes it more interesting to watch because there were many shots that are very rare. For example, in one scene the four friends are having a conversation while sitting around a table, that scene is shot with a camera in the center of the table that spins around as the characters speak. The only other motion picture that I have seen this kind of takes in is "That 70's Show". These shots are extremely effective to help you stay interested in the movie because every time the camera spins it gets your attention and keeps you engaged in the conversation.

This movie leaves a lot of messages and lessons for its audience. The main lesson taught is that good friends must stick together for everything and help each other defeat the problems that they have in life. Another lesson is that every day you have the chance to start again and that you should take advantage of what you get to do that day since it may not be there the next one. The movie also criticizes many problems in the Costa Rican society. For example, it criticizes the insecurity on the streets of Costa Rica and the use of illegal drugs. "El Cielo Rojo" also sends out the message that Costa Ricans should support national talent more because even though it is hard to find there is a lot of talent in here in Costa Rica. ​"El Cielo Rojo" is a movie that every Costa Rican teenager will definitely will enjoy and relate with. Costa Ricans will relate to the movie because shows aspects of the lives of most Costa Rican teenagers and criticizes many problems that our country is suffering from. An example of an aspect of the teenage hood of Costa Rican teenagers that is expressed in the movie is the way of speaking. The characters use words that every Costa Rican teenager would use such as "mae", "tuanis" and "pura vida". Also the parties that they go to are similar to the parties that Costa Rican teenagers go to because they do the same things there. Another thing Costa Ricans can relate to is the settings. The settings in this movie are very familiar to Costa Ricans. Some of these are Palmares, the beach, and Manuel's house where you can see the mountains of the Central Valley in the background. Most of these aspects are also present in another Costa Rican movie "El Regreso" which was a great hit.

​Sergio Madrigal was born in Costa Rica on the 28 of December, 1996. He lived there until 2006 when he moved to Switzerland where he finished school and started middle school on the International School of Basel. He moved back to Costa Rica the 1st of July 2009 and has been living in Santo Domingo de Heredia for the past few years. Sergio is a freshman at Lincoln School where he practices basketball with the Varsity Team. He hopes to play basketball professionally some day. Other activities that Sergio enjoys are skateboarding, mountain boarding, mountain biking, playing guitar and hanging out with his friends.

El Cielo Rojo: A Mediocre Attempt to Create Cinema Esteban Oreamuno Film Appreciation

Costa Rican cinema is, like the country itself, a work in progress. It is slowly developing and learning from the past movies. "El Cielo Rojo" by Miguel Gomez is a perfect example of an attempt to create cinema in Costa Rica. This movie has caused me some negative impressions but at the same time I am a believer in Costa Rica's ability to produce cinema. We see a premature script, unprofessional actors (Ricardo Rodriguez, Edgar Román, and Mauricio Dapena), and senseless plot. The movie narrates the life of some Costa Rican friends as they approach the moment in their lives when they have to become "adults". One of their friends is leaving for college in the United States and they have to say goodbye. Is the kind of movie that is funny but at the end you notice nothing important has really happened since the beginning.

The story revolves around three characters. Bernie, Manuel and Nestor just graduated from high school and they do not know what to do with their lives. Unsure of their future, they decide to concentrate on whatever is important for them at the moment. This includes parties, girls and hang out with their friends. As the movie develops, we understand the situation of some of the characters with some weak character development. The story is set in modern day San José, Costa Rica. We can see some familiar places such as Palmares and Caldera.

The actors of this movie are mainly unprofessional actors. This is probably a cause of the low budget the film-maker had to make his movie. The group of friends seems very unnatural at the beginning of the movie. As the movie progresses, some of the actors like Ricardo Rodriguez (Gordo) do a better job. Mauricio Dapena (Bernie) does a terrible job when interpreting a young adult. He seems very cold and stiff and his character deserves more. They do not seem to accurately interpret some young adults, except Ricardo Rodriguez. Their characters are supposed to be energetic and lively and the actors seem so boring.

I liked some parts of the movie because I am Costa Rican. Its humor is very reduced in terms of the people it is addressing because to understand the jokes, you are supposed to be Costa Rican. Its humor is kind of shallow but seeing ourselves represent on a movie can be funny at times. I also liked the underdeveloped theme of how the decision of taking and career and going to college can be transcendental for young adults. I did not like the acting in the movie by the group of friends. I did not like that plot because it is very shallow. Major events never happen in the movie. Most of the movie is them in the car, going to a party, in the party, or at the beach. When the ending of the movie comes, you realize nothing happened in the eighty minutes (give or take) you were sitting in from of the screen.

The theme of the story can be satisfactory if it was developed more. Some important themes standout such as: father-son relationship, academic decisions, and the theme of friendship. The theme of friendship present in the movie can be expanded upon with scenes rather than them in the bars or at the parties. I think people can learn few deep lessons from this movie. They can learn some of the problems average teenagers face when graduating from high school but not much rather than that. This is all because of the poor character development and the senseless plot.

One of the major flaws of this movie is that the audience it is suited for is very small. To enjoy the movie you have to be Costa Rican, young and now what the teenage life is like. It seems like to enjoy the movie you have to have certain requirements. This movie is not for people that are not Costa Rican because they would not understand our idiosyncrasy and the way we behave. It is not meant for children under fourteen either because they still do not understand the life of a teenager. If I had to rate this movie I would give it a PG-13 since there is a sex scene present and the use of alcohol.

The movie "El Cielo Rojo" as I mentioned is nothing but an attempt to create cinema. The director tries very hard to make it funny but he misses out on vital details such as sound, image and plot. The photography of the movie is "nothing to write home about". I believe this movie can be useful for future Costa Rican filmmakers to learn what not to include in their movies and what important details they cannot miss. If I were to rate this movie I would give it a 5 out of 10 taking into consideration the conditions Costa Rican filmmakers have.

Esteban Oreamuno is currently a junior at Lincoln School in Costa Rica. He is taking a course on film appreciation by Pablo Morales. He enjoys swimming, mountain biking, and watching movies.

"El Cielo Rojo" Won't Make Your Face Red of Disappointment By: Alejandro Carranza

Most adolescents in Costa Rica have a similar life after ending high school and having to take decisions that will change their life forever. Miguel Gómez made a film of comedy and drama that portrayed this specific situation. He named the movie El Cielo Rojo and was released in 2008. He made the movie by taking as base his real life story. He even made four main characters that portrayed him and his three best friends. A couple of weeks ago, I saw this movie and really enjoyed it. El Cielo Rojo is a movie talks about the adventures of four best friends named Néstor, Manuel, Berny and Roberto. They all have recently graduated from school and have no plan for their future. This fact makes them decide to just continue doing what they most like before. This was looking for girls, going to different parties, going to the beach and other activities most teenagers have. Never less, they have to overcome many obstacles like difficult relationships with girls, street fights or other personal complications that will turn the course of the story. I think that most of the actors did a good job, even if they weren't professional actors. In the movie, only two actors were professional and they didn't even act in important roles. Ricardo Rodriguez, one of the main actors, played the role of Manuel. I felt that his job wasn't very good at first but then improved throughout the movie because he started to understand better how Manuel should be. Berny was played by Mauricio Dapena, another main character. I thought that his performance was the worse of the four main characters because he seemed unreal throughout the movie. Allen Obando, played the role of Roberto, who was as well an important character. I liked Allen's performance because he acted as if Roberto was really him, making his part very believable witch made a lot of his jokes better therefore it made the audience to laugh more and to get identified with him. Edgar Roman was Nestor, who was the last of the four main characters in the film. I think that this character was the hardest to portray because he had a very different way of thinking than the rest of the main characters. Edgar did a similar to Ricardo and his improvement throughout the film. El Cielo Rojo, had ups and downs during the movie. Still, knowing that the economic resources that this movie used were so low, I thought that Miguel Gómez did a great job directing the movie. I liked the script a lot because I enjoyed all of the jokes that were told and they used the vocabulary we "ticos" use. I felt that at the beginning, the movie wasn't as good as the end. This was due to the, almost, none experience of the actors. Still, they managed to get on their feet and improve the movie. A scene I didn't enjoy was when all of the main characters where on the beach and they give a bad news to Manuel. I felt that the camera moved too much around the characters because, even though it expressed the feelings of the scene, in got me distracted and I started to get dizzy. Also, I didn't like all the scenes when they were in the car because I felt that were they placed the camera it didn't appeal to me nor grabbed my attention. Finally, I didn't like the scene were they are all sitting in a hill after a party with Alejandra (Maria Elena Oreamuno) because at times one of the main characters was blocked by another so you couldn't see his face and reactions when others were talking. By the other hand, a scene I enjoyed was when Néstor, Manuel, Berny and Roberto, where sitting in a restaurant and the director decided to use an interesting movement of the camera that rotated quickly as each character talked. Also, I liked the scene where the sky turns red because it expresses all the feelings that they are having at the moment in just one quick take. El Cielo Rojo gave me an important lesson in life. The lesson is that friendship is something that will be with you in good and bad moments of your life and you should never be ungrateful to those who are willing to give it to you. Also, another theme or moral that you could get from this story is to live your life to the fullest no matter what others think you should do. Finally, this story teaches everyone that you should love and care the people who are around you because maybe, for some reason, they might go of your life and when this happens you will regret not loving them. This movie was made for Costa Rica only, but specifically for adolescents. This is because if you are not a "tico", you won't understand many of the jokes and wont' be so identified with the characters as if you were. Therefore, I sincerely recommend this film to every adolescent living in Costa Rica because they will not only identify with the movie, but also be supporting the production of cinema in Costa Rica. This movie was rated PG- 13 because of the slag vocabulary. In conclusion, I think, that El Cielo Rojo, is a great Costa Rican film that could have had small improvement but still made an excellent job portraying the life of most of the adolescents in Costa Rica. Scale of 1-100 75

The writer of this critique is Alejandro Carranza. He is a student in Lincoln School of Cost Rica and is currently in 9th grade. He wrote this for his class of film appreciation. He enjoys watching movies in his free time. His favorite sport is soccer and he has been playing this sport all his life.

The movie "The Red Sky" is a great movie to watch if you're Costa Rican. It is an independent movie, created in Costa Rica by Miguel Gomez. The movie is the common life of four friends, and their decisions through their teenage years. I saw the movie and my opinion toward it is more accurate because I live in the same country where the movie takes place making it easier for me to give an opinion on it. I can reflect about my own life towards the movie, since I have the same age. It is easier for me to also refer to the language, since I live among people who speak like most of the time. This movie is directed to a lower amount of people because your required to understand very different words which are only from Costa Rica. It's hard to understand Costa Rican slang, but once you already know it, it's easy to understand.

The story takes place in San Jose, Costa Rica. It is in modern times, (beginning of XX Century) and it's in the central city. One of the characters owns a car and he takes us to see some parts of Costa Rica, including the beach. The actors are Allen Obando, Mauricio Dapena, Ricardo Rodriguez, Edgar Roman. These are the four students who just graduated and are deciding what they are going to do with their lives. It is very hard for one of them, to decide what he is going to study, with the pressure of his friends and family he has to decide. A problem also occurs Ana(represented by Silvia Campos), this was the violation of the girl. Generally the film just wants to depict the normal life of a group of teenagers, taking them through a journey of adventures, jealousness and anger. At the same time showing a Costa Rican beach and showing some parts of the city, roads. It also shows the common "huecos" (which are holes in the road) which Costa Rica has in abundance.

Mauricio Dapena had a lack of action at the beginning. He needed more inspiration to fulfill his roll, I saw how sometimes he forced the scenes and strived to do a better job but failed at it. An example of this would be the representation of Nestor. Nestor was the drug user in the movie, but he did not fill his roll completely, it seemed as if he wasn't using drugs. Generally the role was very good, and for some of them never acting makes them even more special. This makes them more special because they do not force their act, they do it more naturally. One of the actors was also only familiar to theater, making that transition is hard. The characters were very well represented by the majority. But it still lacked a little more professionalism in order to achieve a higher level off representation.

The movie was full of comedy, and scenes that depicted daily life. The scene I liked the most, and that included a very funny aspect of Costa Rica, is when they become super heroes. Every child in Costa Rica always dreams with being a superhero such a Superman. They used cheap editing for the Superman scene, but in the end, the way they did it made it funny, since they showed it in a different more human way. They were saving Costa Rican civilians and covering holes in the street. I also liked and recommend people to watch it because of how the engaged the problems. How they used a more informal script, using slang language in order to make it more of a comedy and to make people see how they talk. We can also identify with the movie language. It is hard to pick a favorite scene of the movie, since movies are full of different scenes. To pick the best scene would be to pick a scene that represents the movie, that you can capture the essence of the movie in that scene. The scene I would pick would be the superman scene, since it includes the comedy of the movie.

I learnt that everything will settle down by its own means. It's not good to pressure everything and to get stressed by what you're going to study. Sooner or later, it will come to you and it is best when it's that way, since you can choose something fast but at the end you do not like it leading to a waste of more time. Problems are less significant and less important than what they appear to be, but we make them a lot bigger. Learning from comedy movies is hard, some of them are only for the purpose of laughing and transmit no message.

I would recommend the movie to teenagers over thirteen, since I think the movie is PG-13. Adults will also have a feeling of the past with the movie, and remember their teenage years. I would not recommend it to anyone who is not Costa Rican or children under 13. It is a harsh film, in some parts, in this parts it some scenes and language that for kids is inappropriate. It showed the slang of Costa Rica and settings such as the beach and city. This movie is not rated by the MPAA, from there you can see it is not very known outside of Costa Rica. From the beginning you can start to identify. In case of teenagers there is a character with different personalities, each involving real life personalities some teenagers have. Overall the movie is eloquent and realistic involving real life issues. This makes it a serious movie, which many people of Costa Rica should watch even though it has comedy some may not like. I would rate the movie with a 3 out of 5 stars due to its lack of more editing and sound effects. It also had very good script that's why the rating is a 3.

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.