La Cordillera (The Summit)

Pelicula 2018

Spanish Film Festival

Greenbelt 3 Cinemas

A mountain resort in the picturesque Andes mountains in Chile is the setting for a summit of Latin American leaders. The main topic is the establishment of an OPEC like organization consisting of Latin American nations. 

The central character is Hernan Blanco, (Ricardo Darin) the newly elected president of Argentina who is attending his first summit meeting. Blanco, a former mayor of a small town is hailed as the leader of the common man. His low profile at the summit is being questioned by a critic in a radio show commentary who belittles Blanco's capability as a leader. 

A few minutes before they board the presidential plane, his staff receives news of problems on the personal front. His daughter Marina is distraught and insists she had no idea about the expose from her ex husband, who plans to reveal Blanco's previous corrupt practices. The president decides Marina should join him at the summit so he can keep an eye on her already frayed nerves. 

Ricardo Darin (Truman) is very credible as the plagued Blanco. As president, he maintains a calm almost stoic demeanor in the wheeling and dealing of diplomacy. There is a specific scene with Christian Slater as a high level State Department official in a clandestine meeting with President Blanco. In this shot, Blanco listens as usual, the imperialistic U.S. wants to act as 'consultant' to the proposed organization. Towards the end of the meeting, Blanco negotiates for what he believes will be beneficial to Argentina. Whether this is good or not is beside the point, I think this establishes Blanco as a certified negotiator/leader.

As a father, he is concerned, strong and decisive for his troubled daughter. He even agrees to a series of hypnotherapy sessions for Marina which reveals certain ambiguities. Whether those past events are true or merely a figment of Marina's complex imagination - are never fully explored. A side plot which could perhaps better explain why Marina is really messed up. 

So except for those intriguing hypnosis revelations which were left unanswered, the film does a good job in presenting international relations among world leaders. The breathtaking Andes mountain range providing an icy background to an engaging political drama.

El Autor (The Motive)

Pelicula 2018

Spanish Film Festival

Greenbelt 3 Cinemas

Alvaro is a notary in a law firm, a really monotonously boring job. His real passion though is to write a novel, something he calls 'real literature' as opposed to best selling book written by his wife, Amanda. In fact, he is very serious, Alvaro has even taken up writing lessons in a class taught by an over critical instructor.

Alvaro's life goes from sad to pathetic. He leaves his wife after she is caught cheating with a co-worker + he is put on forced leave after his work suffers from his erratic behavior. He moves into a new apartment, and now has a lot of time to concentrate on his novel.

His main problem is he doesn't have a fertile imagination so upon the advice of his teacher to roll up his sleeves and search for stories in the real world - he decides to eavesdrop on the lives of his neighbors in his new apartment block. He makes them the subject of his novella, going as far as manipulating and orchestrating their lives to make them more interesting characters for his book.

It is set in Seville, Spain with shots mostly within the confines of Alvaro's spartan and sparsely decorated apartment in bright almost blinding scenes. This is perhaps in contrast to the sudden influx of ideas that flood Alvaro's mind.

The creepy tone of the lead character, with his obsessive, stalker like tendencies as well as the dramatic phasing of the plot add some intensity to an otherwise predictable narrative. With a good premise and the exemplary acting of Javier Gutierrez as Alvaro, The Motive is a well made dark comedy.