Direzione opposta

Impressive film by Venezuelan director Alejandro Bellame, possibly the best I saw at the Punta del Este Film Festival. Passionate, rich in nuance and character layers, with tons of sensitivity, the director dexterously takes you through a powerful emotional journey where Eugenia, beautifully played by Claudia Rojas, lives a doomed and short but very intense love story that will mark her for good, showing that no matter how far away from home you go, it isn't the borders in the maps that define us, but the scars in our hearts. The acting exudes naturalness, and the film itself a wonderful and imperfect freedom, a lust for life that is contagious. And to top it all, the arresting songs by Dermis Tatú. A film that stays with you for days.

I had the opportunity to see Opposite Direction at the Chicago Latino Film Festival. The premise was great, and I think it must have been a good book. But overall the execution of the movie was poor, the acting was not believable, and the cinematography reminded me of a telenovela. The director made an interesting movie before, but Opposite Direction was disappointing.