La fiesta del Chivo

Don't believe that because I am Peruvian as Luis LLosa or Mario Vargas Llosa I am going to clap their work without criticism. Other movies of the first and some books of the second are not likable to me. In this case I have to say this is for me, a great book adaptation (ok, maybe some characters and scenes where eliminated, but imagine how much should have last the movie if not). And also the cast was well elected. The movie is a political history thriller, that refers to a Latin American real era, and has to photograph it as perfect as can. The other part, Urania's history is a psychological drama history, and it can be shocking, but the idea is that it has to be; it is the history of a trauma post raping, and it's consequences in family and personal life. I think the movie is well guided and the two parallel histories are well related. But I have to say that sometimes it was a little difficult to follow context, most in the scenes of the car.

At the beginning takes place a murder of a Spanish writer called Galindo (Gary Piquer) denouncing crimes of the dictator , as he is executed by Trujillo's hoodlums . This is the story of Urania Cabral (Isabella Rosellini), a Manhattan successful lawyer , after 30 years returns to República Santo Domingo, to face her past and remembers her father's (Paul Freeman) relationship to Rafael Trujillo (Tomas Milan) , a.k.a El Chivo (The Goat) . Her life is turned upside down when she has a meeting to Dominican dictator, as well as the events surrounding his assassination carried out by a motley group (Juan Diego Botto, David Zayas , among others) .

Based on the best-selling novel by Mario Vargas Llosa , it has well adapted , though adding some brief changes . It is less a feast than a somewhat rushed, but thoroughly thought-provoking and the main difference from the source novel was the sacrifice of psychological nuance. The film deals with horrifying circumstances that altered Urania Cabral's life forever when she was a teenager well played by Stephanie Leonidas and grown-up performed by Isabella Rosselini along with her relationship to Rafael Leónidas Trujillo for whom nothing in her present or future will ever be the same again . Good acting by Isabella Rossellini as a smart , kind ,and independent advocate at law whom, returns to to face her past ghost . Terrific acting by Tomas Milian as a sadist and maniac tyrant , he steals the show playing a disgusting and loathing character , including some unsettling scenes dealing with his relationship to Urania Cabral/Stephanie Leonidas . Being a Spanish/British co-production appears several fine Spanish actors such as Juan Diego Botto , Gary Piquer as well as British players such as Paul Freeman , Eileen Atkins , among others . Lavishly produced by Andres Vicente Gomez , the picture pays attention to period detail . Nice production design , all the exteriors were filmed in Santo Domingo, but the studio filming was done in Spain . Colorful as well as evocative cinematography by Javier Salmones . The motion picture was professionally directed by Peruvian Luis Llosa (Anaconda , The specialist , Sniper) , he is cousin of Mario Vargas Llosa .

The flick is based on fictional events as well as historical deeds deeds ; these are the followings : Rafael Trujillo (Tomas Milian) was a real dictator of the Dominican Republic from 1930 to 1961 and the official President of the Republic from 1930 to 1938 and 1943 to 1952, he was the iron-handed ruler of this island paradise. Trujillo's character struggles with aging and the physical problems . During his "thirty-one years of horrendous political crimes", modernized the country's infrastructure and military, but whose regime's attacks against its enemies overseas , particularly the attempted assassination of Rómulo Betancourt, president of Venezuela, led to the imposition of economic sanctions on the Dominican Republic by the Organization of American States in the 1950s. The resultant economic downturn, in conjunction with other factors, leads to the CIA supported assassination plot that ends Trujillo's life on May 30, 1961. Trujillo's regime is supported by Johnny Abbes García (Shawn Elliot), the head of the Military Intelligence Service (SIM), a brutal man to whom many "disappearances, executions are attributed. García and his intelligence officers are notorious for their cruelty, particularly their habit of killing dissidents by throwing them into shark-infested waters. Trujillo's son, Ramfis Trujillo (R. Alamo) , is a loyal supporter of the Chief. Upon Trujillo's death, Ramfis seeks revenge, even going so far as to torture and kill his uncle by marriage, General Jose Roman, for his part in the assassination conspiracy. Joaquín Balaguer (Pericles Mejia) , Trujillo's puppet president is also a supporter, and initially his seemingly innocuous character holds no real power.

For Dominicans who lived Trujillo's oppressive tyranny, the film, as well as the novel, depicts thoroughly the essence of the regime's cruelty and the human degradation of the period. It is a MUST for Dominicans younger generations. Aside of these historical items, I consider the film well achieved, a thriller in the best sense of the expression, well acted,mainly by supporting cast. I understand thou, that because of the nature of the theme, it could no be not well understood by audiences outside Latin America, especially by moviegoers that prefer another kind of trendy violence, sex and special effects film-making. I am sorry to disagree with voters that give this picture such a low 5 punctuation

The problem with this film is that you have a director ,producer from other countries and actors speaking castilian they don't get the feeling of the era of Trujillo's's dictatorship,and can't make it work, I Lived that ERA, the fear of Trujillo's SIM (Intelligence Service) was tremendous and one thing that distinguish that Era was that those that served the regime were very protective of any anti-Trujillo's's ideas and served as an extension of his government to protect their own lives and that of their families, fear of him and his goons (Johnny Abe), although at the time of this movie things were changing was enormous, you never get that feeling during this movie, to me this film is just one of thousands,that were lived in the country in his 30 years.

I think The Feast of The Goat is a very good film, of course always taking into account that it is an adaptation of the novel by Mario Vargas Llosa, it is not a documentary, which means that not all the facts presented in the movie are real, some come from the imagination of the author. It you want to know what is real and what is not, then investigate about the Dominican history. This movie is a sad and interesting story of a woman that went through the same that many other women did in that time where the Dominican Republic belonged to Rafael Trujillo the Dictator for 30 years, they also show the atmosphere of fear and lack of respect for the human rights. The movie is located in the last years of the period so we can see the conspiracy to kill him, and the facts that leaded those people to do it. The performances of Tomas Milian as Trujillo and Stephanie Leonidas as young Urania were very convincing. The costumes were good but some of the ones Tomas Millian wears are big for him and it is very obvious. Isabella Rosellini is OK nothing to be remembered, she just does the job.