walterlx

This movie showed here in Los Angeles last night as part of a festival of New Spanish Cinema. Jesus de Galindez was a Basque nationalist who lived in the Dominican Republic after leaving Spain. And then after leaving the Dominican Republic for the United States he wrote a book exposing the Trujillo dicatorship. For this he was kidnapped and taken to the Dominican Republic where he was brutal tortured and killed.

The movie uncovers his life through the oddysey of a young woman from the United States who does research on his life, only to find doors blocked everywhere, and false open doors as well. Harvey Keitel plays the US government agent (it's unclear if CIA or FBI) whose assignment is to prevent the facts about Washington's role in the disappearance of Galindez from coming out. Keitel plays this role to a T.

At 126 minutes, it's somewhat overlong, and the performance by the actress playing protagonist is a bit goggle-eyed and wooden, but it's a fine movie. Interestingly, it's a bilingual movie, with parts of the dialogue in English, with Spanish subtitles, and in Spanish with English subtitles. It's also fascinating to listen to the different accents in Spanish by many of the characters.

The protagonist, a professional film maker and divorced mother of an older teenaged son must decide between seemingly incompatible options: her own need for adult love and companionship and her son's fear of losing his mother's love.

Gathering filmed interviews with a wide range of Iranian women affected by numerous restrictions in an extremely patriarchal culture, the mother ponders the choices between which she finds herself deeply ambivalent. Will she be allow guilt and her son's desire to be "the man of the house" determine her course?

Told from the mother's POV, we slowly discover the reasons why each of the characters are drawn as strongly as they are. And we don't know until the final moments just how the story will be resolved. I found this tension especially satisfying. Each has strong and legitimate reasons to fear the inevitable change which must occur between them if mother decides to prioritize her own needs.

The absence of a sound track strengthened the story's impact, making this viewer at least feel very much as if I was looking directly into an unfolding family drama. Very strong emotions, somewhat like a two-character telenovela shown here!

Seeing adult reactions through the eyes of a child left many unexplained mysteries of the McCarthy era. Friends who grew up in the shadow of the Hollywood blacklist in Los Angeles say that in spite of its flaws, FELLOW TRAVELER provided a perspective they themselves couldn't see at that time.

The movie's only weaknesses were its awkward transitions between time periods and the uneven sound track (sometimes too loud, sometimes too soft) which distracted from the narrative flow. The story itself was told in an honest and well-balanced manner giving both the position of those passionate left-wing activists along with the approaches of the people whose direction they followed.

As a made-for TV movie, FELLOW TRAVELER was probably not widely viewed. I'd strongly recommend it be sought out as a video rental or in bargain bins for anyone seeking a good dramatic portrayal of that tragic but intense period.