Mon père

Retablo (2017) is a Peruvian film written and directed by Alvaro Delgado Aparicio. The dialog is spoken in both Spanish and the indigenous language Quechua.

Amiel Cayo portrays Noé, who is a true folk artist. He makes retablos, which are an ornamented altarpiece type of painted structure. The word retablo means different things in different countries. In this movie, they are like small tryptychs which open to display a religious or secular display.

Noé is recognized for his skill and called "maestro." However, he doesn't have an easy life, because he sells his art in various cities and villages all over the region. Peru is a mountainous country, so travel isn't easy.

Noé has a son, Segundo, portrayed by Junior Bejar. Segundo is learning the craft. He's a fine young man and already a skilled artist.

The plot revolves around what happens in this rural society when long-hidden secrets are brought into the open.

Both lead actors are very effective in their portrayals. The movie is well made and definitely worked for me. It has an excellent IMDb rating of 7.5.

We saw this film at the Little Theatre, as part of ImageOut, the excellent Rochester LGBT Festival. It will work well enough on the small screen, although you'll miss out on some breathtaking scenery.

Retablo won the ImageOut Jury Award as the best narrative film at the 2018 Festival.

The only positive this film had was the beautiful natural landscape which made for gorgeous and breathtaking cinematography. Other than that, it moves at the pace of molasses trying to flow uphill, with minimal dialog that is very banal. The story is told in a disjointed manner and relies mainly on people constantly staring into space. The message of how a culture, which has not embraced modern ideals, responds to homosexuality, does get across but there are better films that deal with this issue.

Retablo creatively portrays the Andean life values and drama. The plot is crafted around the life of an Altarpiece Artisan young boy and his family and their relationship with the nearby rural communities. It mastefully representing what does it mean to live more than 10,000 feet above sea level in the rural and extremely poor Andes of Peru. It is a superbly crafted powerful story. With 18 awards around the world it is a true contender for the Academy Foreign picture Oscar.

Peruvian movies are making me talk lately... I went to watch Retablo, few days ago. Winaypacha and Retablo have one main thing in common: they both make you think. Think about life. Think about yourself. Where we are, what we do... what's our place in the world, what we have, what we don't have... Retablo is a story that touched me in different ways. At the beginning it showed me the beauty of something I don't have... at the end it showed me the beauty of what I do have. A culture, a place, a language, a life style so different than ours. A story of a family that lives in rural Peru, with nature and peace surrounding them, in contrast with the hard work and passion needed to survive. A dad artisan who teaches his son all the secrets of his job, and together they build a strong and genuine relationship that will connect them in a wonderful way. Everything in this film is special and transpires a lot of humanity that in our society is now getting lost... also if with a touch of "violence" that I'm not used to see. A family that goes trough every problem with no fear because they are strongly united, till something happen and all the tone of the movie changes. Here the other side. Not everything different from what we know, is better than what we have. Good and bad halves are everywhere, and sometimes we give for granted things. A secret came out, in a world where the reality is different than ours. Together they are stronger, but the pressure from the society is so powerful that for this dad even the unconditional love of his son is not enough.

Something so unfairly immoral that made me think a lot. Even the love of his son was not enough... even that.

This film not only has a demonstration of the beauty and color of a culture that has existed for centuries in the confines of the Andes. The story between Noe, a craftsman retablista who begins to train his son to dedicate himself to the same thing, brought a lot of interest in knowing how this plot was going to develop. And if it is true as they say in the previous reviews, sometimes the film begins to take a slow and not very expressive path, but in my opinion what rescued was the exclusive relationship between a father who, knowing himself bisexual and feeling attracted to other men, was quite difficult to accept in a community as closed as this country, especially in these hidden places where ignorance and poverty are the greatest stigmas. However, Segundo (son of Noe) at first felt a little angry and frustrated when discovering the "immoral" acts of his father, his heart dictated him stay with him to protect him and take care of him despite his father's depression when he did not want to get ahead for the "sin" committed. In reality, the story is very particular and worthy of understanding and applying for those who do not end up accepting and being compassionate with others. The love that Segundo felt for his father was greater than everything else and that is worthy of admiration!