Los Debutantes (2003)

misogynists will love it

Okay, this will be spoiler-free except for discussion of the structure of the film, which I will spoil right now by comparing to the film "Go" (and others). Maybe it's a better movie if you discover that structural game of the filmmakers on your own, but the trouble is that without talking about it, there's really not a lot more to be said for this movie.

If you took the film and re-edited it to flow in a traditionally linear way, it would be a crappy movie, plain and simple - loose ends would be left dangling all too visibly, the characters would seem like old re-hashed cliches, and the ending - well, the ending is a little forced in any event.

However, they DO the thing with the structure, so there is one salvation that probably is the only reason to watch this movie: Antonella Rios, who doesn't seem at first to be a very talented actress, is allowed to peel the layers of her character more slowly and evenly, and the result is that she shows many different faces at different times, and actually pulls it off pretty well, though without the ultimate cohesion that a better ending would have allowed. In a linear movie she'd be okay, you'd say "neo femme-fatale" and maybe even add "ho-hum" - but here the revelations of her characterization are more delineated and I think it adds to the overall effect.

That's not enough to recommend the film as a whole, though. I hated almost everyone else in it, thought the plot was trite, predictable and ultimately boring. And last but not least, it gets the award for the most misogynistic screenplay of all time, which is really an accomplishment. January 29, 2006

Antonella Ríos at her best NUDE

The movie was marginal at best but you get to see Miss Antonella Ríos nude through out the film in many excellent scenes. December 11, 2005

Spiraling Down the Sink Hole of Chile's Underground

Director/writer Andrés Waissbluth worked seven years to complete this two hour film about the crime underground in Santiago, Chile, and perhaps that is one of the reasons the resultant film seems episodic and in need of editing. OR, maybe this is the technique of a director who shows a fine sense of film noir storytelling.

Two brothers - Silvio the elder (Néstor Cantillana) and Victor the younger (Juan Pablo Miranda) - have moved to Santiago from their home in Temuco after their parents' death and Silvio works to support Victor's education. On Victor's seventeenth birthday Silvio takes the virgin out to the clubs where he encourages Victor to lose his virginity with one of the club's stripper/prostitutes. In a tender scene Victor must face his nascent impotency while Silvio is out on the club floor impressing the 'owners' with his potential for hire.

Silvio goes to work for the 'gang' as a bodyguard/henchman and makes good money to support Victor's schooling. But Victor has eyes for one of the dancers at the club named Gracia (Antonella Ríos) and begins to woo her, dropping out of school incurring Silvio's angry disappointment. Gracia just happens to be the squeeze of the club gang's leader Don Pascual (Alejandro Trejo) who is Silvio's boss! Gracia is the glue that holds this tale together as she is the paramour of Victor, Silvio, and Don Pascual and the consequences of this bizarre ménage a trois has deadly results. Through a means of re-telling the story through the eyes of Victor, Silvio, and Gracia we grow to understand the vulnerabilities and the cracks in each character that allow for the downfall that results.

Sound like a Chilean Pulp Fiction? Well, it is and it is filmed in a brutally colorful, dark manner that includes a lot of frontal nudity (both female and male) and provocative sexual encounters. But in the end the sensual aspect of the director's vision is what drives this film, playing on the debutante virginal psyche against the hardcore professional sex worker with success. The cast is fairly strong, especially Antonella Ríos in the demanding role of Gracia. There are enough twists and turns and replays of incidents you think you understood the first viewing but that change dramatically in impact when told through the eyes of a different character. Bordering on two hours, some judicious editing would have helped the impact of the film. In Spanish with English subtitles. Recommended for those who like the edgy film noir style and the art of South American cinema. Grady Harp, July 05
July 19, 2005

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