La Fortaleza

La Fortaleza is a film that touches your heart-strings. Maybe it's because the movie seamlessly fluctues between fiction, and reality, as I later learned. And it makes complete sense. The way Roque, the main character, deals with situations and his problems with addiction in the palpitating heart of the Amazon Jungle feel surreal, but also close and relatable.

I think we have all been Roque at some point in our lives. Lost, deranged, sad. But, in spite of everything he goes through, at the end there is hope, there is redemption, there is rebirth. What I liked the most about the film was it's message of hope.

A really strong trip into madness based on the true life economic climate of Venezuela and the director's father who stars in the film. It's a strong, compelling performance with some amazing scenery off-kilter but well set up and real, breathing moments that come to the film naturally thanks to its breezy pacing.

If the film had a bit of a stronger sense of focus or purpose I'd be a lot more engaged. As it stands it does feel meandering at parts and loses my interest as it goes on. It does make up for it slightly with a strong final scene, perfectly punctuating the metanarrative and adding gravitas to the situation the character and real life people find themselves in.

La Fortaleza is a movie about Roque, a man who returns to the Amazon after leaving Caracas, a city filled with protests and the constant reminder of the economic crisis the country is facing. In a way, yes, it's about a man who quits trying to understand what's happening in this country and goes full Joaquín Phoenix/Daniel Day-Lewis mode in the jungle... and yeah... I felt that.

However all politic themes are only implied, the central story is the self-destructing tendencies of a man battling the jungle and his own mind while he reconnects with old friends and discovers how contagious greed is.

This movie has probably the most beautiful cinematography I've seen in recent Venezuelan movies, Jorge Roque Thielen (Father of the director) gives a powerful performance, the script is in part based on his personal experiences and it's great to see a father-son collaboration that feels honest, personal and moving. I hope this movie gets all the recognition it deserves.

A deeply intimate confession. A mirror. A father playing himself as a real-life character who represents a the feeling of a country in complete self-destruction. This is a powerful metaphor of Venezuela. I later learned that all the actors were actually non-professionals who play versions of themselves. I was blown away by this because the performance of the protagonist (the director's father) is one of the most raw and realistic things I've seen in a while. The cinematography was sublime and the editing had a very unique pacing. This is a radical film in all respects. Not an easy watch, but worth it every second.