User reviews

In the history of cinema,plenty of films have been made about wars and their devastating effects on human beings.However,it is very rare to showcase a film which looks at war especially guerrilla warfare from a humanist point of view. Postcards from Leningrad is a different film as it shows the humorous side of guerrilla life.The film is about a couple of children who learn about the involvement of their parents in war. All this is told from the view point of a young girl who tells how she was conceived.We also learn about her friendship with her cousin.Venezuelan director Mariana Rondon won the best director award for this film at 13th International Film Festival of Kerala,2008.Her film is a bold example of socially committed Latin American cinema as she films a tale of survival by depicting NLM guerrillas who are fighting the mighty Venezuelan army.Although there is no mention of a Russian city called Leningrad,this film appears to be a mind blowing work of art because of its effective use of colors to tell the story of events which took place 40 years ago.As far as a non political message is concerned,Postcards from Leningrad suggests that guerrilla warfare is an absolutely tough business involving torture and separation from family.

This film has some creative energy, but the story of the young revolutionaries is told in an unnecessarily complicated way and I could never figure out what the director's point of view is. Is she satirizing the commitment of the young people who go to the mountains to bring down the government? If so, why does she quote the authentic rural people who remember the revolutionaries with affection?

I appreciate the effort to put the struggle for justice in context of a specific family, but it was very difficult to figure out who was who. The kids and their animated fantasies were so distracting, and I don't know what was the point of the film within a film shot by a "gringo".

Need I mention that most of the acting was terrible? I lived in Venezuela for two years and I recognize the tele-novela style. The grandmother especially bothered me, but the hero, Teo, was also very bad.