Retablo

It's a simple plot, but it's solid, and it turns out to be quite dramatic and even moving.

In the Peruvian Andean foothills settlements with close knit societies where the Church has some clout, any individual wilful act that contravenes folk taboos can have serious consequences. Mobbing seems to be the Law. Tragedy. This movie purpose is to show some awful consequences and leave the viewer pondering on the subject

Retablo (2017) is a Peruvian film written and directed by Alvaro Delgado Aparicio. The dialog is spoken in both Spanish and the indigenous language Quechua.

Amiel Cayo portrays Noé, who is a true folk artist. He makes retablos, which are an ornamented altarpiece type of painted structure. The word retablo means different things in different countries. In this movie, they are like small tryptychs which open to display a religious or secular display.

Noé is recognized for his skill and called "maestro." However, he doesn't have an easy life, because he sells his art in various cities and villages all over the region. Peru is a mountainous country, so travel isn't easy.

Noé has a son, Segundo, portrayed by Junior Bejar. Segundo is learning the craft. He's a fine young man and already a skilled artist.

The plot revolves around what happens in this rural society when long-hidden secrets are brought into the open.

Both lead actors are very effective in their portrayals. The movie is well made and definitely worked for me. It has an excellent IMDb rating of 7.5.

We saw this film at the Little Theatre, as part of ImageOut, the excellent Rochester LGBT Festival. It will work well enough on the small screen, although you'll miss out on some breathtaking scenery.

Retablo won the ImageOut Jury Award as the best narrative film at the 2018 Festival.

The only positive this film had was the beautiful natural landscape which made for gorgeous and breathtaking cinematography. Other than that, it moves at the pace of molasses trying to flow uphill, with minimal dialog that is very banal. The story is told in a disjointed manner and relies mainly on people constantly staring into space. The message of how a culture, which has not embraced modern ideals, responds to homosexuality, does get across but there are better films that deal with this issue.

Peruvian movies are making me talk lately... I went to watch Retablo, few days ago. Winaypacha and Retablo have one main thing in common: they both make you think. Think about life. Think about yourself. Where we are, what we do... what's our place in the world, what we have, what we don't have... Retablo is a story that touched me in different ways. At the beginning it showed me the beauty of something I don't have... at the end it showed me the beauty of what I do have. A culture, a place, a language, a life style so different than ours. A story of a family that lives in rural Peru, with nature and peace surrounding them, in contrast with the hard work and passion needed to survive. A dad artisan who teaches his son all the secrets of his job, and together they build a strong and genuine relationship that will connect them in a wonderful way. Everything in this film is special and transpires a lot of humanity that in our society is now getting lost... also if with a touch of "violence" that I'm not used to see. A family that goes trough every problem with no fear because they are strongly united, till something happen and all the tone of the movie changes. Here the other side. Not everything different from what we know, is better than what we have. Good and bad halves are everywhere, and sometimes we give for granted things. A secret came out, in a world where the reality is different than ours. Together they are stronger, but the pressure from the society is so powerful that for this dad even the unconditional love of his son is not enough.

Something so unfairly immoral that made me think a lot. Even the love of his son was not enough... even that.