O Ditador

"La Fiesta del Chivo" is a startling look at the long-running dictatorship of Leonidas Trujillo (1930-1961)in Republica Dominicana, seen through the eyes of one of his youngest victims. The delightful Isabella Rosselini plays Uranita, the long lost child that wanders back home thirty years after fleeing. In a series of flashbacks we see the country where she spent her early days, the dangers and horrors of a tyranny she couldn't possibly understand and the haunting reasons why she fled. Tomas Milian convincingly plays the lewd dictator with all his whims, coarseness and vanity. Paul Freeman is at his best playing Uranita's widowed father, Agustín Cabral, lifelong aide to the strongman and a staunch prop of the regime. A street scene depicts a lighted "ad" placed outdoors which reads "Dios y Trujillo", ominously summing up all the terror of a Third World tyranny.

At the beginning takes place a murder of a Spanish writer called Galindo (Gary Piquer) denouncing crimes of the dictator , as he is executed by Trujillo's hoodlums . This is the story of Urania Cabral (Isabella Rosellini), a Manhattan successful lawyer , after 30 years returns to República Santo Domingo, to face her past and remembers her father's (Paul Freeman) relationship to Rafael Trujillo (Tomas Milan) , a.k.a El Chivo (The Goat) . Her life is turned upside down when she has a meeting to Dominican dictator, as well as the events surrounding his assassination carried out by a motley group (Juan Diego Botto, David Zayas , among others) .

Based on the best-selling novel by Mario Vargas Llosa , it has well adapted , though adding some brief changes . It is less a feast than a somewhat rushed, but thoroughly thought-provoking and the main difference from the source novel was the sacrifice of psychological nuance. The film deals with horrifying circumstances that altered Urania Cabral's life forever when she was a teenager well played by Stephanie Leonidas and grown-up performed by Isabella Rosselini along with her relationship to Rafael Leónidas Trujillo for whom nothing in her present or future will ever be the same again . Good acting by Isabella Rossellini as a smart , kind ,and independent advocate at law whom, returns to to face her past ghost . Terrific acting by Tomas Milian as a sadist and maniac tyrant , he steals the show playing a disgusting and loathing character , including some unsettling scenes dealing with his relationship to Urania Cabral/Stephanie Leonidas . Being a Spanish/British co-production appears several fine Spanish actors such as Juan Diego Botto , Gary Piquer as well as British players such as Paul Freeman , Eileen Atkins , among others . Lavishly produced by Andres Vicente Gomez , the picture pays attention to period detail . Nice production design , all the exteriors were filmed in Santo Domingo, but the studio filming was done in Spain . Colorful as well as evocative cinematography by Javier Salmones . The motion picture was professionally directed by Peruvian Luis Llosa (Anaconda , The specialist , Sniper) , he is cousin of Mario Vargas Llosa .

The flick is based on fictional events as well as historical deeds deeds ; these are the followings : Rafael Trujillo (Tomas Milian) was a real dictator of the Dominican Republic from 1930 to 1961 and the official President of the Republic from 1930 to 1938 and 1943 to 1952, he was the iron-handed ruler of this island paradise. Trujillo's character struggles with aging and the physical problems . During his "thirty-one years of horrendous political crimes", modernized the country's infrastructure and military, but whose regime's attacks against its enemies overseas , particularly the attempted assassination of Rómulo Betancourt, president of Venezuela, led to the imposition of economic sanctions on the Dominican Republic by the Organization of American States in the 1950s. The resultant economic downturn, in conjunction with other factors, leads to the CIA supported assassination plot that ends Trujillo's life on May 30, 1961. Trujillo's regime is supported by Johnny Abbes García (Shawn Elliot), the head of the Military Intelligence Service (SIM), a brutal man to whom many "disappearances, executions are attributed. García and his intelligence officers are notorious for their cruelty, particularly their habit of killing dissidents by throwing them into shark-infested waters. Trujillo's son, Ramfis Trujillo (R. Alamo) , is a loyal supporter of the Chief. Upon Trujillo's death, Ramfis seeks revenge, even going so far as to torture and kill his uncle by marriage, General Jose Roman, for his part in the assassination conspiracy. Joaquín Balaguer (Pericles Mejia) , Trujillo's puppet president is also a supporter, and initially his seemingly innocuous character holds no real power.

For Dominicans who lived Trujillo's oppressive tyranny, the film, as well as the novel, depicts thoroughly the essence of the regime's cruelty and the human degradation of the period. It is a MUST for Dominicans younger generations. Aside of these historical items, I consider the film well achieved, a thriller in the best sense of the expression, well acted,mainly by supporting cast. I understand thou, that because of the nature of the theme, it could no be not well understood by audiences outside Latin America, especially by moviegoers that prefer another kind of trendy violence, sex and special effects film-making. I am sorry to disagree with voters that give this picture such a low 5 punctuation

I am a Dominican, and it's always good to see movies that are about facts from my country. I was waiting for this movie, everybody knows the book it's already a classic, Trujillo's era it's one of the bloodiest of all the dictators-ships that Latin America has suffer. Well, this movie is based on the book of the same name, but it's very difficult to top the book's magic in a two hours film. It's not a bad movie, but it's not what should have been. Nice cinematography in some scenes but the director fails in portray to us the strongest side of the characters. I give the movie a 6 out of 10, cause anyways, it's a good approach to the book, and the people that doesn't know about this story, i recommend this movie as the best out there about Trujillo and his "nasty" regime.

As hard as it is to top any book with a movie, this one may be Especially harder, Mario Vargas Llosa is an outstanding writer and I Believe Lucho Llosa did a splendid job with this film. Isabella Rossellini was incomparable as usual, as well as many new faces, such as Stephanie Leonidas, who played the part of young Urania Cabral with so much passion it steals your heart. There are some twists in the story that will blow your mind away; although I must insist on reading the book first, even without the book the story is captivating. Aside from the acting and the very interesting plot, I believe everyone (especially us Latin Americans) should pay special attention to the story and be very aware of history repeating itself.