Aro Tolbukhin - En la mente del asesino

ARO TOLBUKHIN:IN THE MIND OF A KILLER is fascinating in its detail but less than compelling in its execution.

I never felt that I was in a killer's mind, but I did feel the need to know more. Which is why I kept watching.

Unfortunately, not much of any great interest transpired.

Villaronga, he of IN A GLASS CAGE fame, was one of the directors of this docudrama and I sensed that he'd clipped his wings in order to take the subject on.

With compelling subject matter like GLASS CAGE and MOONCHILD, Villaronga shines, but with material like this and EL MAR (THE SEA), he seems stifled and produces turgid, paceless celluloid that's more snooze-worthy than gratifying.

Count me disappointed, though I eagerly await the director's next move.

This remarkable film dramatizes the story of the Hungarian merchant sailor and serial killer Aro Tolbukhin, and extensively uses documentary footage of its subject, shot in Guatemala during the time he spent in a Catholic mission in the country side, and when he was captured, interviewed in the jail of Pavón and finally executed by a firing squad. A work directed by a team of three filmmakers led by Agustí Villaronga (who won the Goya award for «Black Bread») the film combines footage in many formats (video, Super 8, 16 and 35mm), echoing the many levels that conform its cinematic discourse: besides the Tolbukhin case, it covers the moving story of Carme Curt, an ex nun who had a strong emotional relationship with Tolbukhin; and also the efforts of French filmmakers Lise August and Yves Keetman to bring his story to the screen in the 1980s: the impact of the material they shot of the real Tolbukhin and the people who knew him in Guatemala (a priest, his lawyer, a peasant), incredibly grows, as the dramatic sections tell the story behind the crimes to the viewer. As it unfolds, the film reveals as a rich visual experience that never tries to hide its debt to imagination: it is illustrated by a black & white film-within-the-(color)film, called «The Uninhabited Dress», that elaborates a fictional and lyrical past to Aro's life as a child and adolescent, based on true facts, given in an interview by his old Hungarian nanny, Slamár Yulané. It is more an evocation than a reconstruction, for it is not a psychological reasoning about the actions of the killer, but an illustration of coincidences in his dramatic, tragic life. As it turns out, «Aro Tolbukhin» is like a Pandora's Box in reserve, that deserves to be seen… without any prejudice.

After seeing several movies of Villaronga, I had a pretty clear opinion about him -- he concentrates too much on the personal aspect of the characters, forgetting about a rhythm of the movie. That is why, though having good critics, his movies never caught the broad audience attention. In ARo he follows the same line, but really improved on the rhythm, especially in the end of the movie. Frankly speaking, I slept through the first part, cause though the first part gives necessary information, it is really slow. Nevertheless the second part is absolutely marvelous and makes the whole movie the best movie ever made by Villaronga.

Recommended.

The film blends documentary and fictionalized sequences to tell the remarkable story of a Hungarian sailor's mental deterioration. The film traces his pathology to his childhood in Budapest while detailing murders perpetrated in rural Guatemala in the 1980s. "Aro Tolbukhin" easily engages the viewer's interest . The filmmakers provide a visually arresting portrait of a serial killer that is psychologically accurate and rich in characterization. Kudos to all involved. May this film receive wide distribution.

Aro Tolbukhin burnt alive seven people in a Mission in Guatemala in the 70's. Also he declared that he had murdered another 16 people (he used to kill pregnant women, and then he set them on fire).

This movie is a documentary that portraits the personality of Aro through several interviews with people that got to know him and through some scenes played by actors based on real facts.

"Aro Tolbukhin" is a serious work, so analytical, it's not morbid at all. Such a horrifying testimony about how some childhood trauma can turn a man into a monster.

*My rate: 7/10