Qué tan lejos

This movie is Tania Hermida's masterpiece. Although it doesn't show all of Ecuador's wonders and sorrows, it surely gives a good impression of it. This, because Ecuador itself is way to complex to summarize in one movie. However, "Que Tan Lejos" shows Ecuador as it is, not like a postcard or a news-teller would show it. Plus, it lets people see how other people see the country: one one hand, you have Tristeza (Sadness: In Ecuador, you have women named Esperanza-Hope, Alegría-Joy, Soledad- Loneliness), a college student that will be considered by some people a "Socialist Party" member because she recalls Ecuadorian problems without any pity and Teresa: a Spanish tourist that comes with no idea of the real Ecuador, but doesn't want to do any harm to it. This movie is so special because, even though the events in the movie aren't real, they're pretty close to all the car trips that we Ecuadorians make. Plus, it allows foreigners to taste Ecuador as it really is.

I saw this movie at the Latin American Film Festival at the AFI and i found it to be a very sweet film. The story is similar to any other "on the road" movies that you've probably seen but it is still funny, warm and engaging. It's interesting to see the interaction between the idealistic (clearly upper class) college student with her activist views and the carefree Spanish tourist. It's also entertaining to see how they both react to the various characters they encounter while on their journey. The beautiful Ecuadorean countryside is also a wonderful added "actor" in the movie. I highly recommend this movie to those people who like quirky independent movies.

When after a few minutes you get used to the a bit amateurish camera, cuts and some not professional actors you will be engaged in a very nice and also funny roadmovie that you will enjoy especially when you are from Ecuador.

The director shows an interesting and diversed potrait of the South American country, presenting its natural beauties but also a lot of the culture within different kind of persons during a trip that Teresa, a rich student from Quito, Esperanza, a spanish tourist,and Jesus, artist from Cuenca, are realizing through the country. While the Spaniard enjoys everything, Jesus philosophies about life, Teresa must realize that she is a foreigner in her own country.

Special appearance by the famous singer Fausto Miño, who together with Pancho Aguirre gives the enjoyable movie a lot of flair.

Recommended!

As an American who has spent several years visiting back and forth Ecuador I thought it was a wonderful movie. The dialog between Esperanza and Tristeza keep the viewer interested and Jesús and later Andrés add much to the film. The vistas of Ecuador are beautiful and a picture says a million words. As a high school Spanish teacher I found it an excellent source when we talk about dialects of Spanish. As a teacher of high school I am very picky about what I show to the students as I don't want to show inappropriate films to them. This picture was pretty much a PG-13 film based on using the f word once and there are introductions to the person that a narrator makes that use inappropriate information such as her first period or his first orgasm....Nevertheless, overlooking those few seconds of inappropriate for high school material showing this film is an excellent idea, I just fast-forwarded that stuff which again takes up very little less than 1 minute. I highly recommend it to teachers or anyone who would like to see what Ecuador looks like in the countryside and have a very good plot. My AP Spanish students loved it and my wife from Ecuador was cracking up when she saw it. Super pleno.

This movie is an example of the way of living in Latinamerica. It allows us to taste what its like to be a "visitor" and to be a "local/resident", and how that changes the way to see, to understand things and specially, to understand the latinamerican society.

Makes you laugh if you are a person that comes from this particular reality called: Ecuador. The romantic part of the film allows us to see the different "social classes" where everyone need a last name, a friend or just money to be someone, remembering the public that the are places of the planet that treat differently some people, although we may know all about "equealty", the Bill of Rights, the Letter of the United Nations and of our own Political Constitution.

The Director of the film tried to show something: a country where anything its possible, a "wonderland" where there is no order, or respect to any rule, or logic, so options are unlimited situations -most of them funny ones-, and also the political reality of, not only Ecuador, but of Latinamerica today.

A great independent work, a piece that show how Ecuador is seen in other places of the world.