guisreis

This movie by Federico García H portrays the struggle and fall of Peruvian revolutionary Tupac Amaru II. With a recurrent usage of documentary-like narration, it combines a court film with prior events in which several characters acted either in favour or against José Gabriel Tupac Amaru's plans to conquer independence from Spain and the foundation of a country ruled by an Inca (himself), without several abuses commited by Spanish Crown. While on the one hand pace is not the best, on the other hand the careful costume and production design and the rich depiction of Peruvian indigenous culture (not only in the quéchua language) are great merits which pleased me a lot. It is a historical movie which presents an effort of exploring a decisive moment in Peruvian history and that also inspired several political movements in the following centuries.

The adaptation by some of the stories of Boccaccio's Decameron by Pasolini produced a very unique and amusing movie, full of dark humor, sexual content and Neapolitan dialect. Set in the Middle Ages, but changing Northern Italy for Mezzogiorno, the film shows a great collection of very amoral characters, deviating from the supposedly very strict moral code imposed by the Catholic Church. Greed (and fraud, and theft) and lust (and debauchery, and even harassment) are portrayed as widespread, in stories which vary from hilarious to disturbing. The quite old places that compose the setting and the well made costumes and deformed teeth transport spectator to medieval period, although behavior is as contenporary as it can be.

Everything is hilarious in this movie, but also seriously dramatic. While the whole situation seems absurd, the movie also explores the complexities of the mind and its strategies to overcome difficulties. And what a great psychologist is Dagmar Berman! And how kind is sister-in-law Karin. Also very interesting to see the gradative change of the relation between brothers Lars and Gus. Excellent performance by Ryan Gosling (besides Elimy Mortimer, Paul Schneider and Patrica Clarkman, all of them excellent in their roles). As the story advances, it is beautiful to see the town (which is almost itself a character) showing warm silidarity and love. That is the way to go on and succeed. Very nice and innovative film.