Bluff

Hallelujah!!!! …Finally, a true Colombian film crosses the border(s) to shows how Bogotá and Colombia really are! I am an American of Colombian and French heritage sick and tired of seeing Colombia so perversely and ignorantly portrayed by Hollywood and others.

How many of you are aware that Colombia is the second oldest, uninterrupted democracy in the world (after the USA), or that it has a vibrant film and television industry (-to say nothing of Ugly Betty), that it's capital, Bogota (Pop. 9 Million) is the "world Capital of the Book," or that this beautiful city is host to the world's LARGEST International Theatre Festival? I hope that Doug Liman, Simon Kinberg (-Mr. & Mrs. Smith), Robert Zemeckis, Diane Thomas (Romancing the Stone) one day visit Bogotá, to see how wonderful it really is, and focus on Bogotá's cultural vitality and diversity, instead of myopically producing films such as Maria Full of Grace from which Joshua Marston profited greatly (for this terrific film) without ever thinking-through about the ontological damage his film would help to perpetuate upon the "unfairly tarnished image" of Colombia.

-Anyway, you will at least enjoy Bluff very much! -Oh, and thanks IMDb for your invaluable/great work!!!

'Bluff' has been showing for a good few months at movie theatres in Bogota, and today I finally got round to seeing it. I didn't really know what to expect at all, but was very happily surprised. It is a crime comedy of the same ilk as Snatch etc, and it manages to nicely balance elements of suspense with comedy. The style of the film is established early on with cheerful music and the Argentinean narrator who makes asides direct to camera -- odd the first time, but subsequently fitting naturally.

With my less-than-perfect Spanish, I still found the plot and dialogue easy enough to follow, and plenty of the comedy is situational. My Colombian girlfriend was laughing a lot at the various portrayals of people from different regions and social classes which did pass me by somewhat, but for instance a well-acted portrayal of a pompous idiot in a position of power is funny in any language.

I think it is to this film's credit that it has something of a global flavour: I wasn't often reminded that this was Colombia that I was watching. Yet it is important to note that many wealthy Bogotanos do live like some of the characters in this film, and it is not a mis-portrayal of Bogota or Colombian society in any way, just a *selective* portrayal -- as is any film supposedly portraying a 'real' situation/culture.

I don't know how much of the comedy would be lost in subtitles, but if it comes to your country definitely go check it out: it is a very slick and enjoyable movie with great elements of black humour. And all in a tightly packaged 90 minutes.

I recognize that out of prejudice I denied the 10th star to "bluff", because it resembles many thrillers that I have seen before. But at the same time I admit that it is a very funny film, especially for a Spanish-speaking person; that thankfully it is not another drug-related movie from Colombia; and that it keeps you interested without nudity, sex scenes or car chases, although the whole story revolves around killing a woman whose husband considers her an obstacle to his affair with a model. This comedy may have been made by producers of commercials and video clips, but I would be a liar if I'd say that I did not enjoy it. The big discovery is Federico Lorusso as Nicolás (or Nicolito as his landlady calls him), who also composed the music. It is a bit confusing at first because of his Argentinean accent in a Colombian film, but with his character being a photographer, anything can happen in the advertising and publishing worlds. Enjoy it if it ever comes your way.

P. S. Complete title, as it appears on the screen during main credit sequence is: bluff m. (pal. Ingl.) cañar, palabra o acción propia para engañar o asombrar sin ser verdad. Fanfarroneo.

I actually went to see this movie with low expectations since it was the only one that fit my schedule. And amazingly I found it really original. I have commented on other Colombian films before, and I agree that Colombian movies tend to have a similar scheme, and always try to make reference to the average vulgar people,especially trying to make jokes out of the continuous cursing. But let's face it, the language used in this film is not especially exaggerated. Unfortunately, this is how real people speak. The storyline and the pacing are brilliant, and it could be extrapolated to any country in the world The acting was great, and the script is to me one of the best ones ever produced in Colombian soil. I think that anyone around the globe can get a good one hour and a half of entertainment, with a beautifully well directed bluffing black humor comedy. It kind of reminded me of films like snatch, and others of the sort. I highly recommend it and hope it can be viewed by more people, since Colombian movies seem to have started to be more internationally focused since last year.

Bluff I really think this movie is very good.

Is basic a different kind of Colombian movie. Is hilarious and the actors uses local expressions that are so much fund to listen.

It shows a different face o Bogotá and I think that's very important because Colombia is a diverse country and we need to show that to the world This is the first movie of the director Felipe Martinez and I really except this movie will be the beginning of a great career as a film director.

We need to continue support Colombian filming industry, because this movie and others good films are the beginning of something big.