Oliver's Deal

The Debt features riveting talent all across the board. Blade's Stephen Dorff and The Bourne Ultimatum's David Strathairn shine as the bankers who attempt to acquire land from a Peruvian family. Barney Elliott has managed to put together a moving cast that portrays the suspenseful story; with a special mention for Elsa Olivero who gives a heartbreaking performance as a nurse who tries desperately to care for her sick mother. The narrative is topical as it involves three separate stories that intertwine because of a deal to buy some land in Peru by New York financiers. In my opinion, newcomer Barney Elliott showcases great direction and writing as presented by a surprising turn the film makes, which caught me off guard. Furthermore, the film is shot beautifully as Peru is such a vibrant setting. It's great to see an independent movie that utilizes every frame from start to finish and kept me on edge. I recommend that any film lover see this feature.

Sometimes in the film culture, there can be a presence of skewed portrayals of different ethnicities or places that aren't the reality of their actual representation. For example, a lot of people see Peru as just an exotic vacation destination because of the beautiful rain forests and Machu Picchu that's the logical destination. It's not depicting Peru in its entirety in the way it deserves. However, I can say with full conviction and admiration that Director Barney Elliot in The Debt, took the time and care to create a thrilling but heart felt drama while fostering Peruvian culture and history by accurately portraying the reality of Peru. He didn't set this high finance deal between New York businessmen and Peruvian farmers regarding the 1968 agrarian reform in Machu Picchu or the exotic shorelines. Rather, he showed the urban, busy life of Lima, the hard working farmland pastures of the Peruvian countryside, and the limited amount of hospital care in Peru to tell a moving yet suspenseful tale on the unexpected consequences of the character's decisions. I recommend this not only for fans of dramas but also it is important to be educated on the reality of our worldly surroundings.

A huge financial deal 2 years in the making, cancelled. A nurse who finds ulterior means to help her Mother who desperately needs an operation. A young boy whose Father behaves like an ogre towards him and a good man who is torn between his position,loyalty towards his people and his best friend, and with all this in the mix "something" has to give and when it does the price will be heavy. Excellent acting from the greatly under-rated David Strathairn, Stephen Dorff, always watchable and this time he plays against type as a man who is prepared to tread on as many toes as is necessary to get what he wants - but has he a redeeming factor? Watch and see. Elsa Olivero who is faced with a really life-threatening decision just when she believes she has at last succeeded, Alberto Ammann as Riccardo. I really enjoy these types of dramas where so many irons are in the fire at once and they gradually ALL come together but NOT always in a good or happy way.

Amazing check a movie where Spanish actors talk English and American actors talk Spanish 👍

It is really the story of a small boy, a small Indian boy in Peru, who introduces the film by being stirred by a helicopter that suddenly invades the beautiful mountain landscape with its horrible noise. That helicopter signals an approaching doom, but no one is aware of it. Two young businessmen of New York are interested in some land in Peru, which a Peruvian colleague wants them to buy for him in exchange for some vital bonds. The moment this deal enters the story you start to suspect the worst. The small boy spends his days guarding his father's herds of sheep and a lama, and at one time the helicopter turns up again and scares the lama off. The boy spends days and nights searching for their vital lama and finally finds it, while the second young businessman is there to try to find out why this land of very high plains is so attractive for entrepreneurs. He finds the secret of the land but perishes in an accident. Meanwhile the boy and his lama are scared again by the helicopter for the third time and runs away and falls, injuring his leg on a stone. Blood poisoning develops, and he has to be brought to a hospital in Lima. The first entrepreneur offers to help them with the transport if the farmer agrees to sell his lands. The farmer has to agree to save his son's life. The son is brought to the city hospital - by that same helicopter.

There is also the story of the nurse whose mother is in horrible pains and almost dying, and to save her life she uses extortion to make a doctor prefer her as a patient to the boy. At least the nurse and her mother get happy but no one else.

It's a very moral tale prying into the mechanisms of fate how one mishap can result in a chain reaction of others with tragic results that no one desired or was responsible for. It is also beautifully made with marvellous panoramic scenes of the Andes of Peru, which the boy often admires. It is both a cold cynical account of life when things happen that should not, and a heart-rending story of what is right and what is not. Many questions are left unanswered when the film leaves us with many things to think about.