El Castigo

Summary

Rarely have I seen such an eloquent, sober and devastating treatment of motherhood, in this kind of open-air play that nonetheless achieves, with so few material resources but with technical creativity and expertise, an absolutely cinematographic expression, with a performance gigantic by Antonia Zegers.

Review:

After a family incident, the young son of a married couple gets lost in a forest in southern Chile. His parents start looking for him desperately.

As this remarkable film unfolds, we will reveal all the meanings of the word punishment.

Matías Bize's film with a script by Coral Cruz is shot in a single sequence shot, so it takes place in real time. The director cleverly takes advantage of it, without repeating himself in the frames. For this very reason, the film constitutes a true acting tour de force, with a colossal performance by Antonia Zegers as the child's mother.

The dynamics of the couple that triggers the disappearance of the son is reflected in dialogues of overwhelming simplicity and depth and in the wisely dosed silences, climates and intensities.

Rarely have I seen a treatment of motherhood as eloquent as it is devastating, in this kind of open-air play that nevertheless achieves, with so few material resources but a lot of creativity and technical expertise, an absolutely cinematographic expression.

A couple suddenly stops their car by a road through the woods, apparently looking for their son who's been left there a couple of minutes before. They shout his name but he wouldn't turn up.

With very few.ornaments, scenery and cast, the film simmers all along as minutes keep passing by. Just the two main characters in a tense wait that pushes things up into the surface, little by little, while the mother, unravels the mixed motherly feelings and contradictions which are rarely allowed to come up to the surface (so as to avoid being considered a monster, by definition of mother as we know it).

Intense, moving and thought provoking.