Jamie passion and passionfruit!

This Argentine film has a good pedigree.  Director Israel Caetano has previous films like ‘Un oso rojo’ and ‘Bolivia’ to his credit.  Lead actor is Rodrigo de la Serna (Motorcycle Diaries) and one of the supports is Pablo Echarri, leading TV actor.  The theme – the escape of four men from a detention centre in greater Buenos Aires during the dirty war is both tragic and relevant today as society still comes to terms with that dark recent period of local history.  And yet, I couldn’t get into this film for a long time.  The first part which is the kidnapping of footballer Claudio Tamburrini, is quite drawn out and fairly predictable, even if Caetano knows how to set up a shot.  The middle part which is in the detention centre complete with torture is ok but I found it confusing with local slang and a furry sound quality.  It looked pretty authentic.  Finallly, we got to the escape part which really was exciting and suspenseful.  Again, it was hardly novel apart from the nudity, but as a metaphor for the Argentine public faced with official abuses of power it had its relevance and poignancy.  It is also a true story and a happyish ending compared to so many similar stories.  So, good acting, some excellent scenes and good camerawork but in the end I found it hard to like and probably would need to see it again for a better appreciation.  Trouble is I can’t really be bothered for now.

¶¶¶