La Passion de Gabriel

At first, I was somehow reluctant to see the movie: Colombian movies (tell me about it, I'm Colombian!) are always so over-dramatic and have this very used plot lines: drugs, whores, hit men, more drugs, guerrillas, more drugs... you get the ides. And, don't get me wrong, I think history has to be told by the movies, just not this very sensationalist way. "La pasion de Gabriel" it's a movie about a regular guy, who has chosen to be a priest and who lives in a very small town in Colombia. He falls in love, makes mistakes, tries to do his best, and is making the effort to live leaving a mark... aren't we all? I find the performance of Andres Parra very believable and the storyline very simple and kind of touching. There are some other weak performances and the editing is kind of rough. Overall, I liked the film. I believed the characters and the story; there are no good guys/bad guys, just regular people.

At first, I wasn't sure if I wanted to see this movie. I like movies about political issues, but I don't like simple propaganda or sentimental movies. This sounded like it might be both. But in the best tradition of Italian Neo-realism, this is a movie about the lives of ordinary people but, because they live in the remote mountains of Colombia in the 1990s, their lives are anything but ordinary. Politically, they are caught in the middle of a struggle between guerrillas and the military. On a more personal level, many of the characters are torn between a Catholic devotion and customs that are violent, sensual, and corrupt.

The acting is great, the photography beautiful. The movie, naturally, treats a number of themes that have to be considered in any movie set in this place and time, but does so in gripping ways.

Highly recommended. At the Chicago Latino Film Festival, we also had the good fortune to meet the leading actor.