El colombian dream

Colombian dream is probably the best Colombian movie ever done, especially Felipe Aljure's wonderful direction and very original screenplay makes this movie a must if you want to know about new styles and concepts about Colombian movie. Since Maria Full of Grace which was released in 2003 but being half Colombian half American I haven't seen a so well done Colombian story. This movie is far apart of the way other directors tell a story about drugs and social problems that are part of the costumbrism and black movie style made in Colombia's cinematography but which is also part of Colombia's reality. Even though the young leading actors still have a lot to learn the movie has extraordinary supporting actors and also very good film editing and sound editing.

Soooo NOT "another attempt to exploit the cliché of what Colombia is not." I have seen Colombian movies, and most of them do fit perfectly into that description, but this movie is different. It shows a new format in Colombian films, the story is fresh even though it does deal with drugs, and the conflicts of the characters are perfectly plotted and put together into a delightful, artistic movie. Don't think "Mary full of grace" is all Colombia has to offer. This movie is full of wit, and was cleverly written and filmed. One of my top ten. Oh, and if you're into Colombian movies, you have to watch "La Estrategia del Caracol." That's a classic and is also very, very good.

This movie is a rare gem. All of the shots are completely hyper-kinetic, which eliminates the possibility of emphasis or accent on any of the films (convoluted and yet, ironically predictable) events. It works out as a collection of tenuously related 2 minute music videos in which character development and plot are almost non existent. The director, who is a very good director, as he showed in his last film "La gente de la Universal", decide to show of his 12 plus years of producing TV commercials in detriment of any sort of narrative criteria. Its overlong, overwritten and I have no idea what the deal is with having an aborted child narrating it. Its Fax meaning at its best, a whole mess of sound and fury signifying nothing.

The Director longs for Colombian cinema to be taken seriously outside of Colombia. This will not be the film to accomplish that goal. The film is basically another story about the tragedy of the drug trade, this time in a hyper-frenetic magical realism style. One of the reasons this film will have difficulty being accepted outside of the Spanish-speaking world is that it will be virtually impossible to create subtitles. This might not be an issue for a film "purist" but from a practical point of view if you don't speak Spanish the film probably looks like a sick cartoon. Obviously the director has talent and creativity but it needs to channeled a little better.

Whenever a film maker goes short of ideas about Colombia, he resorts to the drug theme. This is a permanent cliché in the movie industry and it is easy to forgive if it is the sloppy work of an outsider. But when a Colombian director needs to go to these extremes of bad taste to broadcast (once again) the false notion that his country is a narcotics paradise, you can only feel sorry for him. What a narrow mind and what a scarce imagination.

I only hope that the next time someone uses the name of our country in the title of a film or any artistic work, it be with the purpose of honoring it and not as a commercial gimmick. And yes, that it be of any artistic value.