Pelo malo

Captivating and tells a lot about the lives of the people living there. How politics remains on the background, how dominant ideas shape the reaction of the mother and the immense poverty they live under is grasped perfectly.

Mariana Rondon's film, Pelo Malo (Bad Hair) is a camera that extends to the lives of Venezuelan people who seek their own identity and sub consciousness at the root of racism. At the same time, the film also shares concerns about the impending Venezuelan political uncertainty. The film is being made and released amidst rumors of Hugo Chavez's illness. Mariana Rondon is the director of the 2007 International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) Award-winning film "Postcards from Leningrad".In 1966. She studied cinema in Paris and was the first batch student at the film school in Cuba. After a few short films, she formed her own production company, and in 2000 released her first feature film, 'At Midnight and Half' with Marietta Yugas. Her first independent film was the 2013 release, "Pelo Malo". All her films have attracted the attention of critics around the world and received countless awards. The film not only brings to the fore the racial sentiment that is inherent in Venezuelan life, but also concerns the Venezuelan people's concern about the fascist trend that Chavez's imminent death might have in Venezuela. The main characters in the film are Martha, a widow, and their son, Junior, and Junior's friend La Nina. Martha's second child, her mother and her neighbor are also in the movie. Junior with Bad Hair, like all other Venezuelans, have inferiority complex over his hair. He's worried about getting his hair straight for his photo to be submitted at the school at the time of opening. The mother has often mistaken her passion for this hair as a homosexual. They often consult the doctor for that. Martha, however, lwading a life contrary to the society's expectation about a woman to be. She does the security work that only men do. Even though she is dismissed from the job she refused to take any other employment. The film addresses the Venezuelan people's concerns about the future of power of Venezuela, especially in the context of Chavez's "predicted" death. It is implied by Lanina's fear of rape. She occasionally tells Junior that she will be raped. Her eagerness should be seen as a dread of the Venezuelan people over their fear of Fascism. Sex and fascism are such an intertwined duality. The film also enriches the gender gap that existed among Venezuelans. While dismissing Martha from security job he says that a woman cannot work in security. The film shows us Venezuela's labor and housing problems, also shows the extraordinary love of the Venezuelan people with Chavez. The film shows the crowds worshiping Chavez for the longevity of his life by shaving their head. No ruler in the world can get such love from the people. There are rare movie that shows human relationships so beautifully. This 93-minute film in Spanish is also written by Mariana Rondan . Samuel Lanke Zambrano played the beautiful role as junior. Samantha Castillo was cast as Martha and Maria Emilia Zulbarran as La Nina acted beautifully. There are rare beautiful movies showing the political and cultural situation of Latin America at the present context.

"Pelo Malo" may turn out to be one of the great films about childhood. It is also one of the few movies that could loosely fit into the criteria of New Queer Cinema since it deals with the subject of a nine year old boy who almost certainly will grow up gay. He lives in the slums of Caracas with his mother and baby brother and it's his obsession with his hair, among other things, that leads his mother to conclude that he might, indeed, be gay and she's not the type of mother who wants a gay son. Fundamentally the issues on display here are notions of machismo and homophobia and they are treated with a good deal of sensitivity and some humour by the director Mariana Rondon.

As the boy, little Samuel Lange Zambrano is really quite extraordinary and Samantha Castillo is equally good as the mother struggling to keep her family together. Indeed, the naturalistic acting of the whole cast is to be commended. This is largely down to the intuitive direction of Rondon whose documentary-style approach is not far removed from Italian neo-realism and, although this is only her third feature in 16 years, marks her out as someone to watch.

Nothing uplifting about this movie. Long, depressing (and cruel) ...with a disappointing ending. Should have been called "Bad Movie."

This film is excellent. The acting, the story telling, and the productions values are all very high. I think a previous reviewer had the impression that the film should address more head on the subject of growing up black. But I can tell you as someone who is from Venezuela and now lives in the US, that's not a subject that it's discussed much in Venezuela. So I believe you're coming at it from your experience of growing up in the US. I bet if you were to ask the little boy in the film if he considers himself black, he would say no. The way this film tackles ethnicity and socioeconomic disparities is very subtle and that's why I believe it's so effective. Venezuela is a country obsessed with beauty pageants, and as many we have accepted that "straight hair" is the definition of beauty. I myself grew up believing I had "Pelo Malo." I now of course love my hair just the way it is. That was a wonderful tool the filmmaker chose to illustrate a symbol of not belonging. For me this film is mostly an exploration of motherhood. Mothers are supposed to be perfect, but how can you be when you're so focused on just surviving? I never once doubted that in the film the mother deeply loves her children, she's just making the choices she believes she has to make in her situation, even though sometimes those choices were plainly wrong.