Its no doubt that here in Guatemala we are still opening our way in cinema, Puro Mula shows us a brand new concept and focus about Guatemalan Cinema that feels fresh and different from what we are used to. Before Start Reviewing I want to give my brief retrospective about Guatemalan Cinema.
I have always taught that Guatemalan cinema has been very slow in progress, mostly showing the Cheesy comedies of Nito and Neto, that ultimately have become in some points part of the popular culture in Guatemala, but still being cheesy and monotone comedies that honestly I don't care for. There are in fact some very well crafted films like El Silencio de Neto o Donde Acaban los Caminos. Both good dramas but almost no one knows them. Of course in the past couple of years there were some films like Gerardi, based on the life of the Priest Gerardi and Gasolina, a different kind of movie but also my reception was not so convinced. We don't have too much films and we are already creating a plot cliché,and is no exaggeration, almost all dramas and other films focus on stories of the Civil War, Political Events or plots between the Native Americans and the Citizens of Guatemala. I don't mean to bash it, but it comes to me as something too overused.
REVIEW: Puro Mula took a whole new approach to the audiences in form of a Comedy but also with some dramatic and artsy tousches here and there. I have to admit I was surprised, the creativity and focus of this movie was really interesting and for the most part because finally we are starting to see something different. The story is about a 28 year old guy called Joel who is leaving a very unbalanced and irresponsable life, he doesn't works, lives with his father and the only thing he likes is drinking and rest. However, his day takes a big turn when he has to take care of his nephew and during the day the child is missing and is his job to look for him in the whole neighborhood. Basically thats the whole point of the movie but with enough jokes, dialogues and situations to keep you interested. The strong language using guatemalan slangs is pretty much the heart of the comedy and is a very funny kind of humor to hear that vocabulary on the big screen. But is the kind of humor that only guatemalans get, also because of the scenario and the location. With this movie Im pretty sure they were trying to go for a different approach and make a movie for a wider audience. I have to admit that the name alone got my attention, "Puro Mula" which means more or less "Like a dumbass" and well, that was a very interesting title. I loved the first 25 or 30 minutes of the movie, but I felt that slowly It was loosing the trail. The strong language humor eventually gets old and some of the situations and dramatic elements of the movie just didn't worked for me a whole lot, in the end starts to make a approach more or less to a drama, and the intention wasn't bad but It was done unbalanced and thats why I think the las parts of the movie feel very inconsistent. I also didn't like the ending but I wont spoil It, I felt they wanted to make an ending in some sort of dramatic way, Joel's fate in the future is more or less up to the audience but the formula of this last part just didn't do it for me, the focus was good but It felt unbalanced with the sudden change in the tone of the movie. The acting was not great, but overall all of the actors did a good job and Domingo Lemus as Joel was the one who actually deserves the prize. Not much to say about his acting, but It was a good and consistent performance in a more or less coming of age focus. Also It feels like the actors had a lot of fun in the making of the movie, and that same feelings transcends into the audience. Overall, Its flawed and feels unbalanced but this one is a different and fresh approach to the guatemalan cinema, and this one is a comedy that you may want to try out, I spect to see more in this kind of focus more often in our cinema.
