Un oso rojo

If this movie reminds you of `UNFORGIVEN', you are not wrong. The main difference is while that was set one hundred and fifty years in the past; this one is the present of many people in South America.

Oso (Bear), the nickname of a big and not particularly friendly guy, is released from prison after ten years. He was arrested, on his daughter's first birthday, committing a robbery where he killed a policeman. His only desires are to reencounter his daughter and collect his share of the robbery, his ex-boss `El Turco' never paid to his family.

Of course, the money and his family does not exist anymore. After such time, his wife got another man and his daughter is unaware of his existence. And his boss expend the money. For several reasons, he accepts another robbery organized by `El Turco'. Betrayal and death will follow.

Oso (as portrayed by the exceptional Argentinean actor Julio Chavez) a man is that knows hell and is used to it. He is a physical person, violent and not very fond of words. His face is tough and terrifying. The kind of guy you will (and must run away) if you ever cross with him. Aside from Chavez, Soledad Villamil as his wife, Luis Machin as the boyfriend and particulary Agostina Lage as the daughter are superb.

However, as many wild animals (and Oso is really wild) he will protect his siblings even if he has to kill for that. He has nothing else to loose, no future, and no fear or remorse. As I said, he has no future but he did not surrender either.

Caetano, never tries to make the character lovable. In one scene he steals from a peasant who refuses to give him money; in another, he beats his wife boyfriend (a poor guy who lost his job and is trying to make a few bucks gambling) because he thinks is bad for his daughter (coming from an unrepentant criminal and killer doesn't look very moralizing).

Oso is the real thing Tom Hanks tried and fail to do in `Road to Perdition'. In one scene with his daughter, she talks about things he does not care or understand, but his face or mask shows a huge effort to reach or communicate with her even when both worlds are impossible to mix.

Aside from the simple story, there is the incredible and moving background of the South American (Argentina in this case) poverty. There are no fancy houses here, walls are not painted or even finished. Mate is the drink or beer (in South America is cheaper that colas) and the houses are so small that one must stand for the other to pass. The catch here is that all those losers and criminals, are product of social situation of jobless families trying to survive in any way they can. So when the movie ends, do not expect the moral redempting American ending. Here, people keep the money even if it was not obtained honestly, because is they only way to survive.

If a movie's success is based on how much you care about the characters in it and relate to them, then this movie is a great success.

This is the story about a recently released convict Oso (Julio Garcia) trying to pick up the pieces of his life on the outside. He was cheated out of his share of the money from the crime he was jailed for and goes to collect it. But the head of the gang he worked for Turco doesn't want to pay and wants him to do another job.

He reconnects with his daughter and ex wife who has moved on with her life.

There was one hole in the plot that bothered me--Oso the main character after doing the second robbery would surely have left finger prints all over the stolen car. It is minor. Obviously you also have to suspend some disbelief when Oso knocks off about a dozen armed thugs outnumbered 10 to 1....but by this time you have gotten to like the guy and champion him on.

Unlike Hollywood in Argentina sometimes crime pays. GREAT.

It is enjoyable and of course its venue BA is fun too.

Last but not least the sound track was quite good. Usually I only notice the sound track when it really bad or good.

RECOMMEND

What can I say about a film from one of the best filmmaker of the last decade in Argentina? The answer is: ALL. Caetano is a master, but in Un oso rojo only shows that he can manage a cinematogrephic language in an easy way, and that he can build an story with only two or three good ideas. Chavez is like Al Pacino, or better, like Beat Kitano: he goal one of the best interpretation of the argentinian history. A must see for thriller fans.

Julio Chavez as the Red Bear is a less neurotic Tony Soprano. He's not a mob man, nor does he have a "family" to run, but he is a family man every bit as much as he is a killer.

In fact, other than the brief shootout that shows us why the Bear did a stretch of time right after his daughter's first birthday, the first hour and fifteen minutes of the movie are an intense, moving family drama involving four characters, all brilliantly acted: the Bear, his daughter, her mother, and the weak-willed loser the daughter and her mother now live with.

I could go on about how deftly the film portrays all these inhabitants of a seedy but still charming part of Buenos Aires—people barely getting by, people mostly on the wrong side of the law—but this story is squarely centered on the Bear. Again like Tony Soprano, he has a solid physical presence in every scene—a manly grace and style—even when he's doing something as simple as drinking a glass of beer or smoking his ever-present cigarette. He is dignified, never rushed, as he moves through his world, and yet he reacts with lightning swiftness when threatened or attacked. This is not a man to mess with, that's for sure.

This is not a thriller: it's an emotionally rewarding tale about family and violent crime. It's so perfectly structured, not only will you admire every scene as it unfolds, but in the end you will draw a deep breath of satisfaction at how well they all work together to tell the story. And the music, including the stirring national anthem of Argentina, is gorgeous! Even a children's story about how flamingos got their red legs seems to resonate with this tale of blood relationships—and blood money.

Last but not least, the final shootout is an instant classic: I watched it three times, that's how cool it is.

Don't miss this flick.

It is a standard movie enhanced by the performances and some dialogs. 'El oso' comes out of prison after having been convicted for armed robbery and homicide , and finds his wife and 10 years daughter in a new family with Sergio. Sergio isn´t passing good times, unoccupied and with debts.

The love of 'El oso' for his daughter becomes almost an obsession, as the idea of repair the time not passed together. 'Is it true you killed a cop?' she ask him. 'Of course is not true. That's a very bad thing to do', is his answer. And he try to collect the money of a previous robbery from some old colleagues. 7/10