El presidente

Potent political and personal challenges merge for Hernan Blanco, newly elected President of Argentina, at a regional summit in Chile. A self-proclaimed representative of the people, Hernan deals with shadowy figures, pursues secret agendas with other Latin American leaders and leads a double life that surprises even his daughter Marina. The growing distance between Marina and her father resembles the divide between leader and country, and between Hernan and the image of himself. In one of my favorite Hawthorne stories, the Birthmark, a man with good intentions convinces his wife to drink a tonic that he claims will improve her appearance as well as their relationship. She drinks it only because she loves him. The potion works, but it removes her real essence and proves, alas, he did not love her in return. "Were I weaker and blinder" she says, "it might be happiness." So too with Hernan, Marina and the people of Argentina. Hernan is pushing potions and illusions for others to swallow. Many people try to cast such spells, not just politicians like Hernan, and this film sheds some light on the practice of deception. The theme is intriguing. As a traveler to Brazil and possessor of political science and law degrees, I thought I could easily understand and appreciate the political trash talk and allusions but forward by the Latin American leaders. I was wrong. It is more difficult than I imagined. The matter is further complicated because I do not know Spanish and had to follow the captions at the bottom of the screen. Ricardo Darin (Hernan) does a wonderful job portraying the dignity, posture, arrogance and measured, calculating voice of a world leader. The mountain views of Chile are fantastic but limited. The film did not go into as much depth as I prefer, but overall it is a plausible, compelling glimpse into what goes on at the top levels of power. Seen at the Miami Film Festival.

Every year at least during the last decade, Argentinian cinema comes up with a single film that is superlative in many ways. Just back to 2014 we had Relatos Salvajes (Wild tales, Foreign film Academy Award nominee), The Clan (2015, this one to a lesser extent), El ciudadano ilustre (The distinguished citizen, 2016), and this year La cordillera, by Santiago Mitre. Mitre, still really young, is on his path to claim his spot beside the greatest contemporary Argentinian filmmakers such as Juan Jose Campanella and Damian Szifron.

This was Mitre's first super-production and he succeeded in coming up with something absolutely ambitious. The fact of the film's scale, it's remarkable cast (best national actors by far- Ricardo Darin, Erica Rivas, Gerardo Romano- and great foreign ones- Christian Slater, Elena Anaya) made it highly expected by the big commercial audience, but Mitre has surprised everyone with something so big in it's universal themes (power, greed, corruption) but yet subtle, full of metaphors

and without a closure to the story, which is what the average cinema goer expects. Hence the mixed reviews, popular reaction and the widely spread notion that the film stays half way or that's slow and boring. It can be a really uncomfortable film for some people, it makes one think and in general people go to the cinema just for entertainment.

The pace of the film it's perfect. Neither too slow nor to fast, it allows one to keep thinking about what's there or what's not. I guess it's more enjoyable if someone has interest and knowledge in politics but as I said above what really matters is the universality of the themes that are dealt with throughout the movie.

The only weakness I can find is the inclusion of President Blanco's daughter played by Dolores Fonzi. Even though then I realised this was merely with the purpose of exploring more in depth Blanco's personality and morality, I hardly find Dolores Fonzi credible (I can only recall 2013 "El critico" as an exception). In the long run and after figuring out the reason of her inclusion it didn't really matter. Everyone who's more thoughtful than the average can have a different interpretation of the events or possible outcomes.

It blew my mind.

Although the movie had some individual not bad elements such as acting, music/atmosphere, photography, the total turned to be really boring and without a central meaning/direction, having mixed a very weak political case with a stronger -but again weak- psychological issue of the president's daughter. You were always waiting for something excited, which never came. Either the script was very poor or the director made it so. Perhaps they should have worked with the film a few weeks more...

Wow my very first title review and the first review too! The film is the third work by Argentinian director Santiago Miter. The political thriller talks about a meeting of South American government leaders in a hotel in Andes (cordillera). The presidents meet in a secured place to conclude a new alliance of oil-producing countries.

As the main figure will be the Argentinean President Hernán Blanco presented. His name (in Spanish white) indicates his purity, which he also used in the election campaign. Right from the beginning, this purity is shattered as he learns that his soon-to-be ex-son-in-law intends to make information public about machinations in financing his election campaign. The daughter has been in a psychiatric treatment since some time. In the light of her husband's last plans, caring father lets his daughter to be brought to the summit hotel. The unhealed traces gain the upper hand over her there, and she gets entangled. The father lets a renowned psychiatrist brought into the hotel to help her quickly. The doctor proposes to treat the daughter by hypnosis. However, he will not be allowed to treat the patient alone. So learns the president from the room next door, as the daughter tells a disastrous story in the hypnosis. The surprised president informs the doctor that the story happened before daughter's birth. Another shadow clouds over the president and the ominous history from the past urges the president to let the further treatment be abrupted. So the psychiatrist may not even say good bye to his patient.

The president is being succumbed to political action and has to cope with it in his favor and in favor of his country while dealing parallel with personal issues from the past and the present. At this point the movie slows with the tension and deals bit too much with father-daughter relationship.

So to avoid spoilers have a look yourself. It is not as breathtaking movie as views of Andes there, but still worth to see.

I really don't know what is the real purpose to make this movie. Why we have to involve so many Latin American nations and send all of their presidents to Chile, in the harsh winter and hold a so-called meeting in a resort like hotel on top of the mountain? And what's the purpose this Argentina president insists his daughter to join him there. The screenplay did not clearly develop the conspiratorial scandal this president is facing, only vaguely shows us in some dubious dialog that the husband of his daughter's husband will expose some dirty laundry this president is trying to hide from the people. Having a daughter who is in an unstable mental condition and disrupts his important meeting is such stubborn decision and stupid arrangement that maybe Donald Trump would do.

I really don't know how to categorize this going-nowhere almost clueless film. What is the real purpose of making this film? A political thriller? I don't think so. An unsolved murder mystery? A hallucination of a president's daughter? What is the real purpose this movie like us to view?

Christian Slater played an obnoxious American political peddler in this film with some over-the-top exaggeration with lot of unfit gestures and body language just wanted to give us an impression of how arrogant American policy maker is even during a back room negotiation. This film also wanted to let us know the Mexican president is the mouthpiece of the American government. But regretfully, when you forced yourself to sit through watching this film, expecting something might fully be explained in the end with your patience almost vaporized, what you got in the end is just a big NADA.

You don't need to go through this like me to get nothing out of it. A complete waste of your time.