Hong Sang-soo Spotlight

When I started digging for Korean films 6-7 years ago, the name of Hong Sang-soo came up quite often. Unfortunately, I could not find a single one of his films available on DVD. As each subsequent year went by, I read about another Hong Sang-soo film showing at a far away film festival but none of those titles ever landed in any local cinema. Finally in 2008, an opening emerged when Videomatica in Vancouver carried his Woman is the Future of Man and I was able to end my Hong Sang-soo drought.

I expected the flood gates to open and an a gush of his films to appear but it was not to be. Then remarkably in 2010, I was lucky enough to see a hat-trick of his films starting with Like You Know It All, HaHaHa and finishing off with Oki’s Movie seen on the final day of TIFF 2010.

Now after seeing Hong Sang-soo’s Paris based Night and Day recently, I have managed to see five out of his 12 features to date. So some comments and notes on his features are long overdue.

Eat, Drink, Talk, Man, Woman

All the five features have some form of a gathering where men and women sit down at a table, share a meal and drink plenty of drinks, be it soju or beer. The conversations flow effortlessly among all gathered although the alcohol serves as a lubrication to assist in those fluid words. The alcohol also eases the feelings of those people to pour their heart out or to reveal too much about their hidden feelings thereby putting themselves in an awkward position. These five features show that no matter what hidden thought or feeling a character has, it will be placed out in the open for all to reflect on. In fact, a character could have committed a questionable act years ago and forgotten about it but it will always come back to haunt them. There is no place for the characters to hide and they have to walk with their shame painted invisibly on their faces after their alcoholic infused confession. Night and Day manages to escape from the structure of these life changing social gatherings because the only damage that comes from such a food/drink gathering in the film is regarding a reference towards North Korea and does not get the main character into too much trouble. However, in the other four films the social gatherings have to do with either a woman, issues of the heart or a person’s artistic accomplishments. Such topics are emotionally charged so naturally when characters have their tongues loosened, it leads to a far more damaging effect.

Structure & Framework

Hong Sang-soo’s recent features may give the appearance of familiarity because of elements of love, relationship, drinks, memory and conversations. In the last few features he has used the same technique of abrupt zooms and divided the films into different chapters or four short films as in the case of Oki’s Movie. Flashbacks are also a critical part of these movies as the story cuts from the present to the past as characters reminisce about their past loves and hopes while feeling a bit down in the present. However, despite all these familiar elements, each film is still crafted in a unique mould with each character and story standing on its own.

In a sense, the five features do not cover a wide array of brew styles ranging from a lager to a stout but merely alter the hop count found in an IPA. Depending on how hoppy an IPA is, one can either experience a fragrant aroma and taste or have a bitter hoppy experience. So Hong Sang-soo is barely tweaking the recipe of his own created IPA and coming up with new subtle flavours. Some creations are a bit more bitter than others while some contain a sweet aftertaste. On top of that, the honesty of the characters and the awkward situations they find themselves in does not feel like scripted cinema but instead seems like something born from a personal experience. Yet, it could all be down to Hong Sang-soo’s ability that he is able to craft films which ooze with real and breathing characters who exhibit none of the conventional stereotypical templates others movies impose on characters. His films manage to weave wit, humor and sarcasm seamlessly while providing enough for viewers to put together their own version of the character’s lives.

Other essential reading

David Bordwell has an amazing piece regarding the structure and narrative style of Oki’s Movie and HaHaHa.

Marc Raymond has some great reviews about Oki’s Movie and HaHaHa.

Quintin’s remarkable piece on Like You Know It All does indicate an autobiographical element to that film.

Montreal -- World Film Festival

Montreal’s World Film Festival is now in its 35th year but somehow it is invisible to most of English speaking Canada and much of North America. A quick look at the line-up gives an idea why this may be. The festival is devoid of big name Hollywood films so that ensures that majority of the mainstream media would likely stay away. But one would think that a festival with hundreds of foreign films should be able to attract cinephiles and film critics? Unfortunately, North American film magazines and critics hardly cover the festival either. In the last few years, I have never seen a mention of the festival in either Film Comment or Cinema Scope (a Canadian publication nonetheless). In 2010, I came across a report by Cineaste but the article was only restricted to the web and not in their full magazine. The reason for ignorance from film magazines or cinephiles could be that Montreal does not get most of the big name Cannes films which have their exclusive Canadian or North American premier in Toronto. Yet, if cinephiles and critics are not seeing any of the films shown in Montreal, then how would they know what they are missing?

For example, these are this year’s competition feature films:

ANTOKI NO INOCHI, Dir. Takahisa Zeze, Japan.
CHE BELLA GIORNATA, Dir. Gennaro Nunziante, Italy
CINCO METROS CUADRADOS, Dir. Max Lemcke, Spain
CORAÇÕES SUJOS, Dir. Vicente Amorim, Brazil.
COTEAU ROUGE, Dir. André Forcier, Canada.
CZARNY CZWARTEK, Dir. Antoni Krauze, Poland.
DAVID, Dir. Joel Fendelman, United States.
DER BRAND, Dir. Brigitte Maria Bertele, Germany
DER GANZ GROSSE TRAUM, Dir. Sebastian Grobler, Germany
HASTA LA VISTA, Dir. Geoffrey Enthoven, Belgium
INJA BEDOONE MAN, Dir. Bahram Tavakoli, Iran
KRET, Dir. Rafael LewandowskI, Poland - France
L'ART D'AIMER, Dir. Emmanuel Mouret, France
LA RUN, Dir. Demian Fuica, Canada
PLAYOFF, Dir. Eran Riklis, Israel - France - Germany
TAGE DIE BLEIBEN, Dir. Pia Strietmann, Germany
TATANKA, Dir. Giuseppe Gagliardi, Italy
WAGA HAHA NO KI, Dir. Masato Harada, Japan
WAN YOU YIN LI, Dir. Tianyu Zhao, China
ZILA-BILA ODNA BABA, Dir. Andrey Smirnov, Russia

Only CHE BELLA GIORNATA and DER BRAND are 2010 films with the rest being brand new 2011 films from around the world, untouched by negative press that almost accompanies ever single Cannes festival title. In fact, I have not seen a single mention of any of these films anywhere. The only film that I am slightly aware of is Tatanka but that is because of a personal interest in the film as the story is written by the incredible Roberto Saviano whose book Gomorrah is one of the best books I have read in the last few years.

There are many unknown films in other categories but surprizingly it is only in the Out of Competition category that some familiar titles show up:

This is Not a Film (Jafar Panahi, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb)
Black Bread (Agusti Villaronga)
The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius)
What Love May Bring (Claude Lelouch)

There is indeed a very good chance that most of the films shown at Montreal will disappear without a trace. For example, I have not seen most of the previous year’s award winners. Just taking a small subset of award winners from a few categories produces many undiscovered older titles.

In 2010, the top three prizes went to:

Grand prix des Americas: 
OXYGEN (ADEM) by Hans Van Nuffel (Belgium/Netherlands)



Special Grand Prix of the jury: 
DALLA VITA IN POI (FROM THE WAIST ON) by Gianfrancesco Lazotti (Italy)



Best Director ex-aequo:


LIMBO by Maria Sødahl (Norway/Sweden/Denmark/Trinidad and Tobago)

TÊTE DE TURC by Pascal Elbé (France)

I have not seen any of these 2009 winners even though I have seen a few of Tony Gatlif’s previous films.

Grand prix des Americas: KORKORO (FREEDOM) by Tony Gatlif (France)

Special Grand Prix of the jury: WEAVING GIRL by Wang Quan’an (China)

Best Director: VILLON’S WIFE (VIYON NO TSUMA) by Kichitaro Negishi (Japan)

Thankfully, I have seen the 2008 award winner, Departures:

Grand prix of the Americas:
OKURIBITO (DEPARTURES) by Yojiro Takita (Japan)

Special Grand Prix of the jury :
THE NECESSITIES OF LIFE (CE QU’IL FAUT POUR VIVRE) by Benoît Pilon (Canada)

Best Director :
THE TOUR (TURNEJA) by Goran Markovic (Serbia/Bosnia and Herzegovina)

However, if I keep going back through other years, I draw a blank for the award winners. And these are only for the films that got an award. There are hundreds of films waiting to be discovered via the archives.

The global film world is large indeed and one needs a proper fishing net to capture a good set of the films that exist. Unfortunately, the global distribution network only moves a select few titles around. Cannes plays a big part in this distribution stream as most of its new titles blindly get booked by a majority of film festivals and eventually get a DVD release. Sundance provides North American theaters with a few alternatives to Hollywood films while Rotterdam, Berlin, Venice, Locarno, Buenos Aries, TIFF, VIFF and Pusan also help in injecting new titles into the mix. Yet, despite all these festivals, a good number of international films still remain out of reach.

I appreciate what Montreal is doing and I am glad that a film festival exists that is helping bring many new and unknown titles out of the shadows. The distribution framework to give these films a life outside of Montreal may be broken but awareness of titles is the first step.

Venues & Outdoor cinema

During my stay for Fantasia, I saw plenty of banners and advertising for the World Film Festival because the festival was going to kick off 11 days after Fantasia ended. As it turned out, my hotel was very close to two of the World Film Festival venues. I was also within touching distance of the Cinema Under the Stars location and since I was very close to a Metro station, the remaining three cinemas were also very easily accessible. Of course, given Montreal’s excellent Metro system, most locations are easily within reach.

As indicated by the name, Cinema under the Stars films are shown outside on a closed-off street. This year, the collection features a few Hollywood and Bollywood musicals such as Singin’ in the Rain, All That Jazz, Chicago, Devdas, Lagaan along with two Jacques Demy films The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and Les demoiselles de Rochefort . Combined with the great summer weather in Montreal, Cinema Under the Stars will make for some fun viewings while the amazing selection of brewpubs and third-wave cafes in Montreal should provide enough fuel to discover films that apparently most of North America is unaware of.

Note: The Cine Files blog on Montreal Gazette’s website is providing coverage of the World Film Festival including links to some of the film trailers.

Fantasia 2011

Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival is in a class of its own. It is one of the best genre film festivals in the world and as such entertains, thrills, chills and jolts its audience with fascinating films from all corners of the globe. The festival has gone from strength to strength in its 15 years of existence under the magnificent direction of Mitch Davis. Fantasia runs for a staggering 3.5 weeks (24 days) and is a film festival truly for the fans. When it comes to film festivals, one hardly talks about the atmosphere generated by film fans but in the case of Fantasia, for years I had heard about the rocking atmosphere that took place in the Concordia Hall theater when 700 fans brought the cinema down. Attending Fantasia was on my wish list for a long time so this year, in the 15th anniversary of the Festival, I decided to finally take the plunge.

8 in 3 days

I attended 8 films during my first trip to the Vancouver Film Festival in 2006, the same number as I did at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. The common number was just a coincidence but in both cases this total allowed me to enjoy a decent selection of films, spend time with family/friends, get some rest while taking in some of the best the cities had to offer. So this time around, I decided to go with the number 8 again, but the overall breakdown ended up being different. In Vancouver, I had a 3-4-1 tally with 3 films on a Friday, 4 on a Saturday and a single film on sunday while in Toronto I registered 4-3-0-1 with 4 films on a Thursday and a single one again on the sunday. For Montreal, the number ended being 2-5-1, starting with 2 on a friday. I could have packed in more films at Fantasia but I also wanted to spend some time visiting the city’s numerous brewpubs and third-wave cafes.

So the lucky 8 films in order of viewing:

Blackthorn (2011, Spain/USA/Bolivia/France, Mateo Gil)
Beyond the Black Rainbow (2011, Canada, Panos Cosmatos)
Gantz (2010, Japan, Shinsuke Sato)
Gantz: Perfect Answer (2011, Japan, Shinsuke Sato)
Article 12 (2010, UK/Argentina, Juan Manuel Biaiñ)
Dharma Guns (2010, France/Portugal, F.J. Ossang)
Morituris (2011, Italy, Raffaele Picchio)
Redline (2009, Japan, Takeshi Koike)

I had planned my trip long before the final film schedule was released so it turned out many of the films from my wish list were not playing during my visit but I still had plenty of hope from my picks. On paper, Blackthorn appeared enticing. It marked the English language directional debut of Mateo Gil, a writer I held in high regard because of his excellent writing for Thesis, Open Your Eyes, The Sea Inside and The Method. The cast of Sam Shepard, Eduardo Noriega, Stephen Rea and Magaly Solier (she stole the show in both Claudia Llosa features Madeinusa and The Milk of Sorrow) was equally tantalizing. Plus, the fictional account of Butch Cassidy’s apparent survival and secret life in South America (Bolivia) had all the making of a cult film. Unfortunately, the film is a disappointment. Even though Blackthorn contains many memorable sequences, good acting and some picturesque shoot-outs, the good individual parts never add up to a complete whole. The film does contain some memorable lines especially regarding how three different characters curse Bolivia because they were ultimately defeated there. Interestingly, Che Guevera was also defeated in Bolivia, so there is certainly a cinematic possibility in exploring the political games played out in Bolivia.

Beyond the Black Rainbow had plenty of buzz around it and Todd Brown’s excellent write-up was certainly inviting:

Born of the pre-teen fantasies of writer-director Panos Cosmatos as he browsed the selection of early 1980s Canadian science fiction and horror VHS tapes that he would never be allowed to rent, BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW is a psychedelic head trip of the highest order. Cosmatos captures the aesthetics of an era effortlessly while fusing those influences into something bold and visionary and entirely his own. The accomplished music video director — he’s done work for the Handsome Furs, among others — plunges the audience into a sort of sensory overload as he fuses elements of Reagan-era paranoia, social engineering run amok and a drug-fuelled step up the evolutionary ladder to create a hypnotic experience that plays out like a Tarkovsky-style science fiction picture as filtered through the visual style of LOGAN’S RUN. Michael Rogers delivers a mesmerizing performance as Barry Nyle, his cold and clinical exterior concealing a layer of obsession and... something else. But as gripping as Rogers is, it’s the world that Cosmatos creates that is the real star, the visuals providing a truly immersive experience matched by the original score, composed by Black Mountain’s Jeremy Schmidt entirely on vintage analog synthesizers. Just let it all wash over you.

Panos Cosmatos has indeed done an excellent job in recreating the 1980’s feel and I felt I was watching a horror/thriller from that era on a VHS tape. On top of that, the film’s bright neon tinged palette leads viewers on a tipsy hallucinatory psychedelic ride. Unfortunately, when the stylistic layers are peeled off, there is very little depth in the film. There are plenty of references to conspiracy theories/experiments but those references appear to be elements inserted in the film to allow audience to draw their own interpretations and add more meaning to the film than there really is. For majority of the film, the style dominates but once the bright lights are turned out, the film comfortably settles into B-grade mode.

Gantz came in second place for the Audience Awards at the New York Asian Film Festival and was one of the films I was most looking forward to. So were about 699 other people. Only in Fantasia can 700 people be packed in a theater at 11:25 am on Saturday morning and be in amazing spirits. Each frame of the film was cheered on until the opening credits and after that, the film’s key scenes elicited huge roars of approval. Gantz has an incredible opening sequence, perfectly outlined by Rupert Bottenberg in the Fantasia film guide:

Two young men wait among the crowd on a subway platform, a flicker of recognition passing between them. Before they can speak, a man falls, helpless, on the tracks. One youth jumps down to save him. The other reaches down to help, and falls himself. The train is coming, fast, and they don’t have time to climb back up out of its way. The train slams into them — and they find themselves, from one split second to the next, in a clean yet unfurnished apartment overlooking Tokyo. In the room with them are several other men — a gangster, a slacker, a pair of nervous salarymen — who seem just as confused and disoriented as they are. Also in the room is a sphere. A large, smooth, hard black sphere, which quickly reveals itself to have strange and amazing powers. Text scrolls across the sphere, explaining that the old lives of all in the room are now over. Their new lives belong to the sphere. That’s when the weapons come out, and the players’ first target for extermination revealed.

The mysterious black orb is naturally Gantz and it controls all the players lives and wants them to fight aliens that are living among humans on Earth. It scores the players based on their performances in exterminating the aliens. If a player reaches 100 points then they can either use the points to return to their lives or use the points to resurrect another player but be stuck in the game themselves. The first Gantz film spends time developing the characters and lays the foundation for how the players learn to use their new found powers. The second film Gantz: Perfect Answer promises to answer everything but instead it creates more subplots and weaves an even bigger web of mystery around Gantz. The film introduces a palm sized black orb which is instructing a former Gantz player to kill other people to introduce them in the game. On one hand, Gantz is getting people killed and introduced in the game while on the other hand, players are on the verge of returning to their former lives. Eventually, the mystery around the two black orbs are tied and the film offers many answers but still many things are left untied, presumably for a future sequel or even a prequel. Put together the two films are very entertaining but each film contains many disposable sequences that simply draw out the plot longer than needed. The first film is a better overall work than the second film which spends a generous amount of time on players vs alien fight sequences. Still, Gantz is worth watching and will certainly create a huge fan base.

Article 12 explores how modern technology is reducing people’s right to privacy without people’s awareness. The film features prominent speakers, including Noam Chomsky, and echoes George Orwell in exploring the eroding private/public boundaries in modern Western society. However, the 75 minute film basically contains 10-15 minutes of interesting ideas and spends the rest of the time repeating the same messages over and over. As a result, the film easily wears
out its welcome and ends up being quite tiresome.

F.J Ossang’s Dharma Guns is a film with great potential and incredible style. The first image in the film is in color but the rest of the film is in black and white and features a possible end of the world scenario where a mysterious drug is turning people into zombies. The key to save the world lies in an unfinished script that Stan Van Der Decken cannot complete because of his memory loss. On top of that, he cannot get a hold of his mysterious agent and is hounded by an underground group called Dharma Guns. No zombie is ever shown on screen and that gives the film an air of mystery and doubt. Plus, there are many engaging ideas presented in Dharma Guns but unfortunately, the end result is a lackluster film that cannot thread all the elements together.

One of the things I was most looking forward to in Fantasia was seeing a midnight feature in the Hall theater. The opportunity to witness a packed audience elevate the thrills of a horror feature was one I did not want to miss. So I was surprized when the midnight feature Morituris was not even half full. The feature prior to Morituris was jam-packed and had an after-party around midnight so maybe that drew some people away. Or people were more interested in the International Fireworks competition taking place in Montreal that night. Whatever the reasons, it turned out the audience was smart enough in staying away. However, the lack of crowd did not deter director Raffaele Picchio who was in great spirits because this screening marked the international premier of his film. He told the audience that they would witness a "nasty" film and he was right. Although before the nastiness started, Morituris starts off in a flashback mode with found camera footage showing a family’s picnic going horribly wrong when the family is killed by a mysterious evil force from within the forest. The film then cuts to the present when a speeding car packed with five people, three men and two women, is en route to the same forest for a rave party. The conversations flow naturally among the five in the film’s best segment. However, once the five enter the forest, things go wrong as expected. In keeping with the horror film template, the nasty things happen to the women first. The suffering of the men is not far away but when the evil finds the men, it is in the form of men in body paint and gladiator attire, looking more comical than scary. There are some torture segments in the finale but the film ends up being an awful viewing, mostly due to uninspired direction in the final third. As an aside, one would think that in this day and age needless abuse of female characters in horror films would stop but directors keep thinking of new ways to inflict pain to female characters, all for the sake of shock.

Redline, the eight film, was pure fun. Once again, it was incredible to see a packed hall at 11 am on sunday morning, this time cheering on a Japanese anime. The story of the film features incredible car-racing sequences in a futuristic Japan where races take place on various planets between aliens and humans alike. The cars of Speed Racer have nothing on Redline which feature nitro-powered cars flying at unimaginable speeds. The high speeds led to the racers eyes on the verge of popping out and eventually result in complete breakdown of the cars. One incredible sequence in the film features a disintegration of a car but the human drivers fly across the track to still finish the race.

Ratings & Overall comments

A rough ratings of the films out of 10:

Blackthorn: 5.5
Beyond the Black Rainbow: 6.5
Gantz: 8
Gantz: Perfect Answer: 7
Article 12: 5
Dharma Guns: 6
Morituris: 2
Redline: 8

Unfortunately, my picks may not have resulted in too many stellar films but overall, Fantasia was the best film festival experience of my life. As diverse as the films were, they still demonstrated purposeful programming and each film fit perfectly within the festival’s desire to hunt the world for genre films which push the envelope and are not afraid to take risks. Plus, the framework around the festival ensures a great experience. The two main theaters, Hall (capacity 700) and J.A. De Seve Theater (capacity 173), are not only across the road from each other but are connected by an underground tunnel. The tunnel also leads to the Metro, the most efficient metro system in Canada, which ensures one can get to most spots around Montreal in minutes. Also, there is an excellent selection of restaurants, cafes and brewpubs around the two theaters which means a person is always well nourished in between the films.

The timing of the film festival in summer also means that one can enjoy the great weather of Montreal which makes for relaxing walks in-between destinations even late at night (say 2 am after a midnight feature) when downtown is still bursting with life. Given that that film festival lasts 24 days means a minimum of a one week trip is required to properly assess the films and soak in the best that Montreal has to offer.

Note: some of the brewpubs and cafes I sampled during Fantasia are listed in a separate post.

Copa America 2011

Copa American 2011 Book & Film Spotlight results

On Sunday, July 24 2011 Uruguay won their 15th Copa America title with a 3-0 win over Paraguay. Also on sunday, I finally finished reading the last remaining book from my Copa America 2011 Book & Film Festival. All the individual country posts are up so now it is time to reveal the winning entries. But a quick listing of all the titles that were read and seen:

Country: Book, Film, [Bonus Film]

Argentina: Hopscotch, Crane World, Lion's Den
Bolivia: Aurora, Cocalero
Brazil: Zero, Black God White Devil
Chile: The Secret Holy War of Santiago De Chile, Tony Manero
Colombia: The Armies, Crab Trap, The Wind Journeys
Costa Rica: Cocori, Cold Water of the Sea
Ecuador: The Ecuador Reader, Cronicas, Ratas, ratones, rateros
Japan: Kafka on the Shore, Tokyo Sonata
Mexico: The Underdogs, Duck Season
Paraguay: I, The Supreme, Noche Adentro, I Hear Your Scream
Peru: Conversations in the Cathedral, Milk of Sorrow, Madeinusa
Uruguay: Body Snatcher, A Useful Life
Venezuela: Chronicles of a Nomad, El Don, Araya

Top three books

3) Chile: The Secret Holy War of Santiago De Chile by Marco Antonio de la Parra

Tito Livio has no idea how bad his day is going to get. He finds out that his father was a double agent for both God and the Devil, La Maga and Devil’s agents are after him and the fate of the World rests on his shoulders. A fun book that moves at a rapid pace and manages to pack in plenty of intelligent ideas, fascinating characters and even a political layer.

2) Peru: Conversations in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa

Past and Present beautifully flow together throughout the book, which jumps decades in a span of a few sentences. A few beers opens up a can of memories which still hurt and haunt the two main characters.

1) Brazil: Zero by Ignácio de Loyola Brandão

Incredibly creative and brilliantly paced account of life under a brutal military regime. The short segment chapters work like jump-cut scenes in a film by keeping the rhythm and tension moving along.

Top three films

3) Argentina: Crane World (1999, Pablo Trapero)

A touching portrayal of a man trying very hard to make ends meet. The grainy black and white along with the use of non-professional actors adds to the realism.

2) Uruguay: A Useful Life (2010, Federico Veiroj)

A beautiful tribute to cinephilia. A pure delight.

1) Chile: Tony Manero (2008, Pablo Larraín)

An incredible portrayal of a man’s transformation into a serial killer under the nose of a brutal dictatorial regime. Raúl Peralta (played wonderfully by Alfredo Castro) is certainly one of the most memorable characters to have been portrayed on screen in the last decade.

Books vs Films

Only Chile managed to overlap in both the top three book and film entries. Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay all managed single mentions.

Books vs Films vs Soccer

The top three teams in the Copa America soccer tournament were:

1) Uruguay
2) Paraguay
3) Peru

So stacking this with the top 3 books and film entries produces three countries with two mentions each:

Chile: 1st place film, 3rd place book
Uruguay: 1st place Soccer, 2nd place film
Peru: 2nd place book, 3rd place soccer

Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay round off with a single nod each. The most incredible thing is that both Brazil and Argentina failed to make the top 3 in Copa America, something that was unimaginable a month ago when both were expected to make the final of the tournament.

Final comments

This was a much more time consuming and draining spotlight than I had originally expected. A dozen entries would have made a film only spotlight quite easy, like the Copa America 2007 spotlight. So I added books to add a bit more challenge but I did not select books based on length or style. In the end, a handful of books required a good deal of investment because of the complex and imaginative writing style. Overall, reading all the books was a great experience and it proved that even the most difficult cinema does not come close to providing as many hurdles as a complex book.

Copa America 2011: Paraguay

Entry #13 (final entry) of the Copa America 2011 Book & Film Festival.

Book: I, The Supreme by Augusto Roa Bastos

Augusto Roa Bastos’ I, The Supreme is an incredible book that manages to convey a dictator’s egoistic personality while detailing the jostling for power that took place following Paraguay’s independence. The book is a fictional account of Jose Gaspar Rodriguez Francia, the dictator that ruled Paraguay from 1816 until his death in 1840. However, the book is not presented as a straight forward portrayal but is a richly layered work that combines many voices as part of the narrative. The book is presented as a compiled work which contains the dictator El Supremo’s personal diary notes, excerpts from fictional books written by people who personally met the perpetual dictator and conversations between the dictator and his secretary. This tactic lends humor to the narrative and allows the reader to step back and judge for themselves the validity of some facts dictated by El Supremo.

Carlos Fuentes’ excellent NY Times article describes how Augusto Roa Bastos’ book came to be published, the author’s life and insightful critique of I, The Supreme.

Film: Noche Adentro (2009, Pablo Lamar, 17 min)

Pablo Lamar’s film manages to turn one of the most memorable nights in a couple’s life into an unforgettable nightmare. The wedding party is still going on even though the newly married coupled have retreated to their bedroom. The delightful music is playing and the guests are dancing.

Fade to Black.

When the blackness ends, a hazy image of a blood covered vagina comes into focus. As the camera moves over the dead bride's body, we hear footsteps being dragged. The camera reveals a groom covered in blood as well. The groom then drags the bride's body down the stairs and into the alleyways. All is quiet on the streets and the only noise we hear is the groom struggling to move his bride's body.

Noche Adentro is a tragic poem that effectively utilizes every minute. There are some words spoken in the opening minute after which the film lets the natural sounds of the surroundings fill the screen.

Bonus Film: I Hear Your Scream (2008, Pablo Lamar, 11 min)

A long shot of a solitary man opens I hear your scream. The man heads into the house from which a crowd emerges. Eventually, the crowd empties out carrying a coffin while the solitary man stays behind. His silence speaks volumes as he watches the crowd disappear with the coffin. I Hear Your Scream is thoughtful and touching without using any close-ups.

Paraguay’s Copa America Campaign

Paraguay set a new record at this year's Copa America by becoming the first team to reach the final without winning a game in regulation time. Paraguay also experienced both good fortune by avoiding defeats in games they were outplayed in and bad luck when they drew games they should have won. After an opening 0-0 tie with Ecuador, Paraguay should have won their next two group games but gave up leads in the final minutes. Against Brazil, Paraguay were comfortably 2-1 up and looked in no danger as they dealt with every single Brazilian move through the middle with relative ease but in the last minute, they let the ball reach Fred who turned and tied the game up. In the next game, Paraguay incredibly let a 3-1 lead slip in the 90th minute as Venezuela tied the game 3-3. That result meant Paraguay finished as only the second 3rd best team and had to face Brazil again in the quarters. This time it was Paraguay's turn to have luck on their side as they saw Brazil waste chance after chance. In the penalty shoot-out, the Paraguayan captain and goalie Justo Villar saved a penalty from Thiago Silva but his save did not matter as Brazil took three of the worst penalty kicks in the history of the game including blasting two efforts well over the bar. Elano and Santos blamed the turf but Paraguay converted two kicks from the same spot to win 2-0 on penalties. In the semis, Paraguay once again rode their luck through 120 minutes of extra-time and in the penalty shoot-out Villar's single save was enough for a 5-3 Paraguay win over Venezuela. All the other 8 penalties taken by both sides were some of the most perfect penalties ever dispatched in the high pressure situation of a shoot-out. After two back-to-back tiring games, a host of injuries and suspension of their influential coach Gerardo Martino, a weakened Paraguay took to the field against Uruguay in the final. Paraguay never stood a chance and were under severe pressure from the opening minutes when Uruguay earned corner after corner. Suarez made the pressure pay off by scoring a wonderful goal in the 11th minute and Forlan's precise strike before half-time basically settled the game. Forlan added a late goal to seal a record 15th Copa America for Uruguay. Paraguay might have offered more in the final if they did not have their injury problems (specifically to Roque Santa Cruz) which resulted in some of the tactical changes that Martino made but still their campaign was a success. Also, the current Paraguayan goalkeeper Justo Villar has shown some of the leadership that Jose Luis Chilavert once displayed.

Paraguay's performance this year and at last year's world cup certainly means no team will fancy taking them on in the future. Their results from the 2010 World Cup and this year's Copa include five 0-0 draws with Paraguay winning all three 0-0 games that went to penalties.

Paraguay @ 2010 World Cup

1-1 Italy
2-0 Slovakia
0-0 New Zealand
0-0 Japan, Paraguay won 5-3 on penalties
0-1 Spain, with David Villa getting the goal in the 83th min

Paraguay @ 2011 Copa America

0-0 Ecuador
2-2 Brazil
3-3 Venezuela
0-0 Brazil, 2-0 win for Paraguay on penalties
0-0 Venezuela, 5-3 penalty win
0-3 Uruguay

On top of that Paraguay have qualified for four straight World Cups from 1998 - 2010 and were almost always tough to breakdown. In 1998, Paraguay had two 0-0 draws against Bulgaria and Spain in the group games. A 3-1 over Nigeria put them through to the round of 16 where eventual World Cup winners France needed extra-time to beat Paraguay 1-0. 2010 World Cup winners Spain also only managed a 1-0 win over Paraguay with a late goal in a game where both opposing goal-keepers saved a penalty.

Copa America 2011: Peru

Entry #12 of the Copa America 2011 Book & Film Festival.

Book: Conversations in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa

A few years ago, I came across the 601 page Conversations in the Cathedral, a book that I had not seen mentioned in the few critiques of Mario Vargas Llosa's works that I had read. Since I had previously enjoyed reading two books by Llosa, I bought Conversations in the Cathedral. Although I should point out that the book's back cover description played no part in my decision:

Conversation in The Cathedral takes place in 1950s Peru during the dictatorship of Manuel A. Odría. Over beers and a sea of freely spoken words, the conversation flows between two individuals, Santiago and Ambrosia, who talk of their tormented lives and of the overall degradation and frustration that has slowly taken over their town.

Through a complicated web of secrets and historical references, Mario Vargas Llosa analyzes the mental and moral mechanisms that govern power and the people behind it. More than a historic analysis, Conversation in The Cathedral is a groundbreaking novel that tackles identity as well as the role of a citizen and how a lack of personal freedom can forever scar a people and a nation.

However, I never got around to reading the book and it sat for years on my shelf. Then a chance encounter with an acquaintance last year at a cafe suddenly brought the book back in my memory. Over coffee, I chatted with him about his journalism days back in Peru. After he mentioned that he covered the 1982 World Cup for a local newspaper, I remarked that Mario Vargas Llosa also covered that Spanish World Cup for a Peruvian newspaper. He then said something along the lines of “yes we were there together for the same paper.” His causal remark left me stunned and after a few queries, he revealed that he and Llosa were good friends as well. I could not resist asking him what his favourite Llosa book was. Without any hesitation, he replied Conversations in the Cathedral. I finally had to read the book so it naturally become the first book choice for my Copa America spotlight.

Conversations in the Cathedral is indeed remarkable but more than the story the book’s writing style is what stands out. The book dives into the past at various points in the story but there are no real markers which indicate when the story has left the present and has entered the past. When new characters first enter the story, it appears that these new characters are in the same room as Santiago and Ambrosia or that the story has shifted focus to a different location in Lima. However, after a while it becomes apparent that the present story mostly involves only a series of conversations between Santiago and Ambrosia in a bar named The Cathedral (hence the title). As beers loosen up their tongues, their memories dig deep into the past to uncover the corruption, crime and violence that enveloped their lives. So everytime other characters are mentioned, they are in the past (with some exceptions). The past and present is beautifully woven and once a reader figures out the pattern, it is a pleasure to sit back enjoy the gripping narrative which gives an insight into sinister political games and how those political decisions can lead to a revolution.

Film: Milk of Sorrow (2009, Claudia Llosa)

As the film’s opening credits appear, a soothing voice sings. However, the lyrics do not convey happiness but instead describe a horrible act of rape and violence committed against the singer. As the credits fade, the singer’s face becomes visible and her daughter Fausta (Magaly Solier) slowly leans over her, singing as well. As the camera follows Fausta against the backdrop of an open window, the mother passes away. The film’s title then appears. Very films manage such a contrasting set of emotions in such a short time. The soothing voice calms a person while the lyrics are shocking.

The film turns up another surprize shortly afterwards when Fausta has to go the doctor for a check-up. And questioning by a doctor reveals the meaning of the film title which refers to a belief that sorrow is an illness passed on from a mother’s breast milk to the child. In this regard, tragedy is given through an essential nutrient necessary for nourishing a newborn. Can a person recover from such an illness that is flowing through their veins? Claudia Llosa’s incredibly shot and thoughtful film tries to answer this question by following Fausta’s attempts to uproot her past and plant new roots elsewhere. The film allows enough time and space to observe not only Fausta but all the characters against eye-catching surroundings.

Bonus Film: Madeinusa (2006, Claudia Llosa)

Claudia Llosa’s stunning debut takes place in a Peruvian town literally at the end of the road, thereby signifying a location cut-off from the rest of Peru and even the world. Occasionally, visitors arrive but those arrivals are so few that their presence become a major town event. The town residents are eagerly awaiting the Easter weekend celebrations because the residents believe they can commit whatever sin they want in between Good Friday and Easter Sunday because the Lord is asleep during this time and won’t see the resident’s indiscretions. No one is awaiting this sin-free time more than Cayo (Ubaldo Huaman), the town’s mayor and father of two girls because he wants to deflower his youngest daughter Madeinusa (Magaly Solier) during the holy weekend. Cayo’s plans are in danger of getting ruined when Madeinusa falls for the lone visitor trapped in the town. The visitor, all the way from Lima, opens up a new world for Madeinusa, including telling the young girl that her name is not really a name but instead something one finds on product tags "Made In USA". The fact that the film is set outside of Lima means we get to see a different side of Peru than normally seen on cinema. Also, the film has a keen eye for the town’s rituals (minus the sins, of course) and celebrations.

A Family Affair

All the three Peruvian entries originate from one family tree as Claudia Llosa is the niece of Mario Vargas Llosa. The selections were not designed as such because the film and book entries were picked separately. Still, Peru was well represented by the Llosa family for this particular spotlight.

Peru’s Copa America Campaign

Peru’s third-place finish at this year's Copa America is remarkable given that less than two years ago they finished bottom of the South American 2010 World Cup qualifying group registering only three wins and four draws out of 18 games to earn just 13 points. One of those wins came on the final day of qualifying against Bolivia who finished just two points ahead of Peru in 9th place with 15 points. Peru earned all their points at home and lost every one of their nine away games. Basically, they had hit rock bottom so last year’s hiring of Sergio Markarian has certainly aided in the Peruvian national team’s transformation. The Uruguayan Markarian has given the Peruvian team a new belief by infusing them with enough tactical intelligence so they can organize themselves to get results. Peru started off the Copa America in impressive fashion with a 1-1 tie with Uruguay and a 1-0 win over Mexico as Paolo Guerrero got both goals. Their final game vs Chile was meaningless but Peru were unfortunate to score an own goal in the 92nd minute thereby handing all three points to Chile. Peru had a tough task against Colombia in the quarters and were lucky to get to extra-time 0-0 when Falcao missed a 65th minute penalty. In extra-time, Peru truly shone and scored two amazing goals to set up a rematch with Markarian's native Uruguay in the semis. The Peru-Uruguay semi was pitched as a master vs pupil game because Markaian had once coached Óscar Tabárez, the Uruguayan coach only two years younger than Markarian. The first half was as tactical as expected with no goals but Uruguay wrapped up the game with two goals five minutes apart early in the second half. Peru's high defensive line was always risky and Uruguay exploited that for the second goal as Suarez ran free after a long ball from Alvaro Pereira. The Peruvian captain Vargas got himself sent off for a silly elbow but amazingly 10 men Peru played much better in the final 20 min and came close to grabbing a goal that might have led to a tense finish. However, that Peruvian goal never came and Uruguay reached the final. Still, Peru secured third place with a 4-1 win over Venezuela. The score-line was a bit flattering because Peru got two goals in the final 2 minutes. The Third place game meant a lot to Peru especially to Guerrero who notched a hat-trick to end as the tournament's top goal-scorer with 5 goals.

Copa America 2011: Ecuador

Entry #11 of the Copa America 2011 Book & Film Festival.

Book: The Ecuador Reader, edited by Carlos De La Torre

For many living outside Latin America, Ecuador is not on the geographic or imaginative map. Colombia, Ecuador’s northern neighbor, is well known and misrepresented as the land of violent narcotraffickers and happy coffee farmers (à la Juan Valdez). Peru, to the south, seems reduced in popular imagination to a source of raw coca or as a mystical land whose Andean mountains (Machu Picchu) and Amazonian jungle are waiting to be discovered by adventurous travelers. For better or worse, fragmentary images, stereotypes, and fantasies about Ecuador are less readily available.

The above words found in the opening paragraph of The Ecuador Reader are certainly true. For a variety of reasons, Ecuador does not seem to draw as much interest as other South American countries. Soccer also has not helped Ecuador get much exposure on the global stage. They have only qualified for two World Cups, both recently in 2002 and 2006, with their best result coming in 2006 when they finished second in their group behind Germany and advanced to the round of 16 where they lost 1-0 to England. Ecuador are also one of three nations to not have won a single Copa America (Chile and Venezuela being the other two). However, the country has plenty to offer and has a rich history/culture as well. That is why The Ecuador Reader is a welcome book because it contains a wonderful collection of essays, articles and book excerpts which helps to give some insight into Ecuador’s history, culture, politics and literature.

Note: A real surprize for me was that this book contains an excerpt from Jorge Icaza’s Huasipungo, a novel that was originally the Ecuador book choice for this Copa America spotlight. However, I could not acquire an English translation of Huasipungo in a timely manner and opted for The Ecuador Reader which is why I was delighted to read a few pages of Jorge Icaza's famous book.

Film: Cronicas (2004, Sebastián Cordero)

Cronicas starts off by poking fun at the media circus associated with 24 news channels and ends up becoming a serial killer hunt film. Manolo (John Leguizamo) travels to Babahoyo to cover a story about a serial killer targeting little children. After filming the funeral of one of the victims, Manolo chances upon another story when a young boy is run over by a pick-up truck. The driver, Vinicio (Damián Alcázar), accidentally hit the child and in a panicked state tries to back his truck. However, people think that Vinicio is trying to escape and beat him up. The mob's mood escalates into calls for blood and someone pours gasoline over Vinicio. While all this is going on, Manolo & his cameraman do nothing but film the violence. Vinicio is only saved by the arrival of the police who take him into custody. Manolo senses a story and visits Vinicio in jail where Vinicio tries to cut a deal with Manolo by claiming that he has inside information about the serial killer. In exchange for that information, Vinicio wants Manolo to film an interview which will help him get out of jail. Manolo does not want to pass over a possible exclusive scope so he begins to dig for the truth but finds himself being played by Vinicio. On top of that, Manolo is also under pressure from his boss (played by Alfred Molina) who wants Manolo to fly to Colombia for another breaking story. Cronicas tries to juggle two separate stories of media satire and serial killer hunt and that results in a lackluster final third when events follow a very predictable path. Still, a decent watch.

Bonus Film: Ratas, ratones, rateros (1999, Sebastián Cordero)

Salvador steals and cons people for a living but his small time criminal life gets jolted with the arrival of his cousin Angel. Angel is on the run from thugs and drags Salvador into his mess. Rodents marked Sebastián Cordero’s directorial debut and while the film is not as polished as Cronicas, Ratas, ratones, rateros’ look and mood perfectly captures the street life that the story requires.

Ecuador’s Copa America Campaign

Ecuador had a disappointing Copa America campaign as they finished bottom of Group B although they still went into their final group game with a chance to advance to the quarter-finals. Ecuador drew their opening game 0-0 with Paraguay, a result that was not bad because the other two teams in Group B, Brazil & Venezuela, also tied their opener 0-0. Ecuador fell to a 1-0 defeat against Venezuela in the second game but could have advanced to the quarters with a win in their last game against Brazil. That task did not seem too daunting because Brazil were quite awful in their first two games and were under tremendous pressure going into the final game. Ecuador did find ways to trouble Brazil and Felipe Caicedo twice leveled the game for Ecuador but in the end, Brazil ran away as 4-2 winners.

Copa America 2011: Chile

Entry #10 of the Copa America 2011 Book & Film Festival.

Book: The Secret Holy War of Santiago De Chile by Marco Antonio de la Parra

Marco Antonio de la Parra’s book starts off in a flash and it does not slow down through its 317 pages while constantly moving in unexpected directions. Tito Livio thinks he is just having another bad day and is baffled why strange things are happening to him. The truth floors him and sends him on a wild ride through a marvelous hidden world in Santiago where the battle for mankind’s fate is taking place between God & the Devil. Tito is caught in the middle of this battle because he discovers his father was a double agent for both God and the Devil and that he carries the key which will determine the fate of mankind. Numerous fascinating characters turn up to help Tito while others try to distract him from his path, including the fictional La Maga straight out of Julio Cortázar’s Hopscotch. The book contains many memorable elements but one particular section stands out in which Tito encounters various Chilean intellectuals and authors who remained unknown from the world because others in the west published similar ideas and words before the Chileans could do so. As a result, when the Chileans let their ideas be known they were not given any credit but were instead nicknamed after the Western intellectuals. So Roberto Romero became the Chilean Sigmund Freud. Tito is surprized to learn this and Romero explains to him how he got his nickname:

My name, that’s what they call me. I’m not a demented person who thinks he’s Napolean. The fact of the matter is that my name was lost in the shuffle because of my nickname. That’s the tragedy of Chile, being almost a country, an imitation, a pastiche, a parody, an eternal internal vision of the exterior world, a microclimate. When, inspired, I finished my best work, they negotiated with me and they told me to wait, because of this, because of that. When I managed to get the word out, forcing myself through the official channels, I found them praising a Viennese who was saying the same thing as I was. What I wrote was already written, what I thought he immediately thought, in unison, a European author, where things that are important to historians happen, where images are emitted of which we are only a reflection, the northern hemisphere which gives names to peoples, authors, and things. They read my work and as a great honor they nicknamed me the Chilean Freud, apocryphal Freud, Sigmund Freud Romero, and now simply Sigmund Freud, immortal of mediocrity like all these souls who have written the past and future of the West. Ignored forever, our souls are condemned to wander in this nightclub as a testimony to the other side of history, the night side, the one your father knew in all its glory, and that now is nothing but a shadow of its former heyday. It’s a sign of the times. Do you want to come with me?”

These words can also apply to talented writers and film directors from various countries who are unknown in the West because their works were not championed by an influential critic or their works did not get the right award.

Overall, The Secret Holy War of Santiago De Chile contains many intelligent ideas packaged in a very accessible manner. A truly fun read.

Film: Tony Manero (2008, Pablo Larraín)

Pablo Larraín’s chilling film shows that sanity cannot exist under a brutal dictatorship which causes some people to throw their co-workers/neighbours under the bus to pursue their selfish goals. Such selfishness is personified by Raúl Peralta (Alfredo Castro, excellent) who is easily one of the most memorable characters to have graced the silver screen in the last decade. Peralta will do anything to win a Tony Manero impersonation contest and he manages to use the repressive rules under the Pinochet regime to his advantage. A truly fascinating film that places the viewer alongside Peralta to witness his transformation into a menacing serial killer.

Note: Jonathan Romney’s film review is a must read.

Chile’s Copa America campaign

Chile started the Copa America in a coherent and flowing fashion with a 2-1 win over Mexico and a 1-1 draw with Uruguay. Even though Chile didn’t win against Uruguay, they dominated the game with their fluid passing and pressed Uruguay throughout the second half. After 4 points from their first two games, Chile were in a comfortable position to advance and their final game against Peru was a non-event but Chile still registered a 1-0 win thanks to an own goal in the 92nd minute. Chile and Colombia were the two best teams of the group phase as both registered seven points. Expectations were high when Chile were paired against Venezuela in the Quarter-finals, but Chile’s match-up was the last of the four quarters and that meant there was an air of inevitability about their fixture. By the time Chile took to the field, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil had all lost their games, so it seemed natural that Chile would also lose and complete a clean sweep of defeats for all the four favourite teams in the Quarter-Finals. Venezuela frustrated Chile in the first half as Chile could not find any rhythm. Then in the 35th minute, Vizcarrondo gave Venezuela a 1-0 lead after he exploited Chilean’s defensive weakness and scored from a free-kick. Chile reorganized in the second half and pressured Venezuela and eventually tied the game up in the 70th minute with a remarkable turn and shot by Suazo. Chile also hit the woodwork a few times in the second half and were finding their groove but once again Venezuela took advantage of Chile’s defensive problems and scored after Chile failed to clear a free-kick in the 80th minute. Venezuela hung on for a famous win and a promising campaign for Chile failed to produce anything.

Copa America 2011: Argentina

Entry #9 of the Copa America 2011 Book & Film Festival.

Book: Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar

Julio Cortázar’s Hopscotch (Rayuela) comes with a table of instructions which offer two reading methods:

In its own way, this book consists of many books, but two books above all.

The first can be read in a normal fashion and it ends with Chapter 56, at the close which there are three garish little stars which stand for the words The End. Consequently, the reader may ignore what follows with a clean conscience.

The second should be read by beginning with Chapter 73 and then following the sequence indicated at the end of each chapter. In case of confusion or forgetfulness, one need only consult the following list:...

The hopscotch chapter sequence starts with 73 and ends with Chapter 131.

I decided to follow a third path and instead read all the 155 chapters in sequence. Such a third path is entirely possible because after reading the first few chapters, one can judge the cut-up nature of the book and get an idea about how the chapters would slot in the overall structure. The first portion of the book takes place in Paris and follows the carefree life of Horacio Oliveira as he wanders the city and has stimulating conversations about life, philosophy, art, jazz and literature while being under the spell of La Maga, the ultimate temptress. This section of the book emits the feeling of an era when a person could spend an entire day doing nothing but wandering around Paris and feel truly alive. Horacio certainly emits that zest for life in Paris but his life loses a little fluidity and gets a bit more rigid structure when he moves back to Buenos Aries. Horacio’s magnificent conversations don’t disappear in the Argentine capital but the wear and tear from a variety of jobs and the memories of La Maga cause Horacio’s life to get fragmented slowly, mimicking the book’s structure.

Overall, certainly a book that deserves to be read more than once and one that allows multiple reading manners because the flow of the chapters allows a person to construct their own table of instructions.

Film: Crane World (1999, Pablo Trapero)

Pablo Trapero’s wonderful debut film follows the life and travels of Rulo (Luis Margani) as he attempts to earn a living by taking up whatever jobs he can find, no matter the location. Rulo tries his luck as a crane operator but he is let go from his job after his boss has concerns about Rulo’s health. Rulo drifts to the Argentine countryside to find a job in the construction industry but things don’t work out there because of other workers dispute with the owners over a missing lunch. Rulo’s charming and easy going personality certainly helps him overcome any hardships, be it with his job or with his son. Over the course of the film, it is uncovered that Rulo was once in a band and this revelation helps open some new doors for him.

Crane World is certainly a key film of the new wave of Argentine films ushered over the last decade. Trapero’s use of non-professional actors and grainy black and white footage adds a level of realism to the story.

Bonus Film: Lion's Den (2008, Pablo Trapero)

Trapero once again used non-actors for Lion’s Den and the end result is yet another engaging film that does not look like scripted cinema at all. The real force of the film is Martina Gusman who turns in an incredible performance as Julia, a possible innocent woman trapped in prison. After waking up dazed and covered in blood, Julia showers and heads off to work. Upon returning home she finds her boyfriend Nahuel’s dead body and a wounded Ramiro, who was also living with them. Julia is arrested and put in prison where she learns of her pregnancy. That discovery lands her in a ward for pregnant and young mothers. The special ward is not any easier in coping with prison life and consists of a shared space where young infants can play. However, the shared space has limited hours and the rest of the time is still spent behind closed bars. The close proximity to other mothers helps Julia raise her newborn while trying to survive in prison. As per the film, a child born in prison has to given away to a relative or a destination chosen by the court at the age of 4. Julia fights to keep her son and she is given hope when Ramiro is looking to reveal the truth. But after Ramiro backs out, the truth never arrives and Julia decides to take matters into her own hands so as to secure a better life for her son.

Copa America 2011: Brazil

Entry #8 of the Copa America 2011 Book & Film Festival.

Book: Zero by Ignácio de Loyola Brandão

Ignácio de Loyola Brandão’s incredible Zero controls its pace in a remarkable manner thereby taking its readers on an unforgettable ride through a Brazilian state under a military regime. The book starts off slowly with abstract stories, including newspaper clippings, but gradually a narrative emerges and the book accordingly picks up pace to reflect various moments of high tension. Jose and his wife Rosa are the main characters whose lives take a variety of turns because of their need of money to build a better future. However, that money is always elusive and quest for it turns Jose into a wanted man. Zero depicts details of police torture, the “death squads” and life under a repressive regime, so it is not a surprize that Brandão’s book was rejected for publication in Brazil. The book was first published in Italy (1974) after a translation was done by the Italian novelist Antonio Tabucchi. The images of violence & torture that Brandão’s book creates can now be associated with films such City of God and Elite Squad but Brandão started writing his book in 1964 and completed it in 1973 decades before those films. As it stands, I have never come across any article discussing Brandão’s book and only chanced upon it at the City Lights bookstore in San Francisco, something which highlights the importance of excellent bookstores.

Overall, Zero has been the real literary discovery of this Copa America spotlight because of its incredible writing technique which controls pace and tension.

Film: Black God White Devil (1964, Glauber Rocha)

Rocha’s raw and savage Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol does not loosen its grip from the first frame until the last. In fact, the final images of the film depict rapid movement and as a result, even after the film has ended it takes a while for the images to settle in one’s memory. A corrupt lawless world is shown, where landlords, religious figures and outlaws jostle for power and control of over the souls of innocent workers. As a result, innocent men and women are forced to choose one corrupt figure to align with and that choice governs how long they will be able to avoid death. In the film, the married couple of Manuel and Rosa are forced on the run after Manuel kills a rancher who was taking advantage of Manuel. The couple believe they have found salvation under a powerful religious figure but they are forced into a much more violent life because of that meeting. The usage of black and white for the film prevents any distractions from observing the plight of central characters and is something which heightens the violent struggles, aided by the musical score as well.

Copa America 2011: Uruguay

Entry #7 of the Copa America 2011 Book & Film Festival.

Book: Body Snatcher by Juan Carlos Onetti

The opening of a brothel in the fictional town of Santa Maria requires a few political favours to be called in to get approval from the city council. Once the project is approved, Larsen (aka the Body Snatcher) is on the verge of realizing his dream of becoming the perfect pimp. However, the brothel’s opening causes the town’s moral compass to spin out of control and results in the church stepping in to prevent things from getting ugly. Santa Maria contains many miserable characters who are clinging on the last shreds of sanity and the brothel ends up pushing them over the edge. Juan Carlos Onetti has used similar characters of Larsen and Diaz Grey in other novels while setting his books in the same town of Santa Maria. This appears to have allowed Onetti to explore each character fully and follow a character’s arc through multiple novels. Petri Liukkonen of the Author's calendar discusses Onetti's "Santa Maria trilogy":

The three-volume cycle of novels and stories, often called the 'Santa María Sagas', appeared in the 1950s. In La vida breve the narrator is Juan María Bransen, an employee in a publicity firm and a writer, who invents a fantasy existence for himself as Dr. Díaz Grey, the protagonist of a screenplay he is writing. Grey is usually a neutral observer, as grey as his name implies.  Los adioses (1954) had  a beginning, middle, and end, but also an unrealiable narrator, typical for Onetti fiction. In La cara de la desgracia (1960) a guilt-ridden nameless narrator accepts responsibility for the deaths of his brother and a deaf girl, whom he met at a seaside resort. The narrator is accused of her murder. 'El álbum' (1953), later collected in Para una tumba sin nombre, tells of Jorge Malabia, the son of a prominent Santa María family. Towards the end of the story he visits a brothel, but he is not the central character in his own tale: the prologues to his  sexual initiation occupy the greater part of the narrative. Díaz Grey, the listener of Jorge's confessions, claims that he is a bad storyteller, he is too slow.

El astillero (1961), also set in Santa María, focused on the life of Larsen (alias The Bodysnatcher), the ex-owner of the illfated brothel, who works in a rusting shipyard. He plans to marry the daughter of its owner, but the shipyard becomes a symbolic landscape of his own ruin: "Erect, exaggeratedly strutting, he avoided pieces of hanging iron with shapes and names which rested imprisoned on a confusion of wires and penetrated into the shade, into the distant cold, into the reticence of the shed. He reviewed the desks, the threads of rain, the nets of dust and spider webs, the reddish-black machines which continued simulating dignity." Larsen appeared first time in Onetti's second novel, Tierra de nadie (1941). Juntacádaveres (1965) took Larsen back to a time when he was called to set up the whorehouse. Despite official support by the town councillor, the project is defeated by public opinion. The brothel is a threat to the values of Santa María and Larsen and the girls are expelled from the town. Noteworthy, Larsen is not the protagonist, Díaz Grey and Jorge Malabia are more important characters.

The Body Snatcher is a good stepping stone into the creative world of Juan Carlos Onetti and it will be interesting to explore his other works.

Film: A Useful Life (2010, Federico Veiroj)

The opening credits of A Useful Life mention that the film is a work of fiction and not a true depiction of a Uruguayan cinematheque. However, this brilliant feature does not feel like fiction at all but appears to be a documentary depicting the sad state of our times when cinephilia culture is on the verge of getting lost. The story centers around the closing of a cinematheque and how it effects people, especially Jorge (Jorge Jellinek), whose entire lives revolve around such a venue. Cinephiles and film lovers can certainly identify with some of the rituals and characters shown in the film. Also, one can associate the fictional shutdown of the cinematheque with real life closing down of art-house cinemas or places where film festivals took place. In a brilliant interview with Michael Guillen, Federico Veiroj indicates some reasons why audience might draw a familiarity with the film:

The other thing is that—now that I have seen the film as a spectator and received feedback from enthusiasts like yourself—La Vida Útil has something that makes the cinephilic audience feel they are part of the main character Jorge as well. We all have rituals we indulge when we go see movies we like at our favorite cinematheques and moviehouses. We all love to feel emotional watching movies. That's what we all want. Even in my case, though I am a filmmaker, I am first a spectator; that's what I like more. Maybe the intimacy is my fault? I made the movie about this subject, of course, but maybe the fault—and I mean good fault, right?—lies within you because maybe my film connects you with other films you've seen, other places you've been to where you've watched films, such that you can understand the plight in the film? You understand what is happening in the film. In my case, of course, I identify with all of the characters and there are little bits of me throughout the movie and I'm talking about a subject I know and like; but, I think for the film to work there has to be some similar contact within the person who is watching it. I love having that dialogue with someone who is watching the film. I appreciate it a lot.

Michael’s interview is a must read and A Useful Life is a must see film. In the future when all art-house cinems have shutdown outside of New York and foreign films can only be found via underground film sites, Federico Veiroj’s film might be seen with nostalgic eyes. Although A Useful Life does end on a positive note when the music and lighting in the final scenes evoke the French New Wave and show that Jorge has found his spirit back, thanks to films, of course.

Uruguay at Copa America

Uruguay arrived as the third favourite team at this year’s Copa behind hosts Argentina and Brazil. However, by the time the quarter-finals were concluded, Uruguay remained as the sole favourites to land the title. Uruguay started off slowly in the tournament but displayed plenty of technical flexibility and intelligent ball movement in their games. Even in their opening 1-1 draws against Peru and Chile, Uruguay’s trio of Forlan, Suarez and Cavani managed to find each other with precise passes, something that Brazil and Argentina rarely managed. A narrow 1-0 win over Mexico gave Uruguay second place in Group C and set up a fascinating duel with Argentina in the quarters. Uruguay then stunned Argentina by taking a quick 5th minute lead after Diego Perez sneaked in a goal. However, Argentina found their rhythm and Messi delivered a perfect cross for Higuain to finally score a goal in the 17th minute. Argentina were clearly on top after the equalizer and were running the show, so much so that Uruguay were forced to commit plenty of fouls. It appeared to be only a matter of time before a Uruguayan player would get sent off and Perez duly got his marching orders in the 39th minute. However, the sending off galvanized Uruguay who dug deep and reoriented their shape, as Forlan withdrew deep to form a great link-up player between the midfield and Suarez who was left up on his own. Suarez shielded the ball quite well and everytime an Argentine player kicked him, Suarez went to ground. An Argentina red card looked imminent so it was no surprize that Argentina were also reduced to 10 men when Mascherano was sent off in the 87th minute. Still, Uruguay had to ride their luck a bit and needed some crucial saves from Fernando Muslera, especially his wonderful double save in the 89th minute. Muslera also saved Carlos Tevez’s penalty thereby sending Uruguay to the semi-finals, where they defeated Peru 2-0, on the back of two Luiz Suarez goals.

Coming into the tournament, Argentina and Uruguay were tied with 14 Copa America titles each. Now Uruguay have a historic chance to win their 15th title against Paraguay in the final, that too on Argentine soil. The soccer rivalry between Argentina and Uruguay dates back to 1928 when Uruguay beat Argentina to win the Olympic soccer gold medal. Then in the inaugural world in 1930, hosts Uruguay beat Argentina 4-2 to win the first ever World Cup. Uruguay’s second World Cup came against all odds on July 16, 1950 when they beat Brazil in a packed Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Uruguay’s defeat of Argentina at this year’s Copa America was exactly 61 years to the date from that famous 1950 World Cup win. Brazil and Argentina are powerhouses in South American and World football but both these giants have found themselves beaten by Uruguay at crucial times in footballing history. Now, it is Uruguay who are on threshold of creating their own history on Sunday, July 24.

Copa America 2011: Costa Rica

Entry #6 of the Copa America 2011 Book & Film Festival.

Book: Cocori by Joaquin Guteierrez

Cocori is a thoughtful children's book set in Costa Rican locales of a lush jungle and a beach. Young Cocori’s life is changed when he comes across a young blond girl who presents him with a rose. Unfortunately the rose withers after a day leaving a sad Cocori to question its quick demise. In order to seek an answer, Cocori leaves home without telling his mother and heads deep into the jungle. Along the way, he befriends animals who are willing to accompany him in his quest and who suggest that an answer for the short life of the rose might originate from two of the oldest animals of the jungle, the alligator and the snake. But those two aged animals have no answers for Cocori who instead finds his answer closer to home. There are a few illustrations in the book which are useful in portraying the main animal characters but there is no illustration of the little girl. Overall, a change of pace from the remaining books read as part of this spotlight.

Film: Cold Water of the Sea (2010, Paz Fabrega)

The film contains parallel stories of seven year old Karina (Montserrat Fernández) and a woman Mariana (Lil Quesada Morúa) going through a difficult time in their lives. The two are separated by a few decades in age but both are misunderstood by those around them and in a way are suffering a slow death. When Mariana first encounters Karina, the young girl tells Mariana that she has run away from home and claims she was abused by her uncle. Mariana and her companion Rodrigo (Luis Carlos Bogantes) are concerned about Karina and want to look after her but the following morning, they are surprized to find Karina missing. Mariana cannot get Karina out of her mind and those thoughts unhinge Mariana. After this point, the film is depicted in a manner which makes the two females appear as reflections of each other. One can imagine Karina would grow up as Mariana, and looking at Mariana one can see shades of Karina.

Paz Fabrega’s camera shows the natural beauty of the ocean but also points at the danger that the beach can contain like in the form of snakes. The title refers to the fact that the cold water causes sea snakes to leave their water habitat to instead seek warmth in the sandy beaches. The snakes are not shown to bite Karina or any of her friends but in one scene, Karina mentions she was bit by a snake only for her claim to be dismissed by her uncle. The snake bite could be another story made up by Karina like the abuse claim because no scenes are shown to verify her words. Instead, the young girl’s expressions lay a seed of doubt in viewers. Such scenes of doubt are common place in Cold Water of the Sea as are scenes which don’t fit in with the story of either female such as those that point to the changing landscape of Costa Rica’s coast, such as the selling of land to foreigners for building hotels or resorts. Overall, the film leaves plenty of contemplative room for audience to make up their mind regarding what is going on but there are some ideas which could be better etched out. Still, the film is worth a look and Paz Fabrega is a director to keep an eye out for.

Copa America Campaign

Costa Rica decided to send a young Under-23 aged team to the Copa because of the senior team’s commitments in the Gold Cup. So that meant the entire purpose of Costa Rica’s presence in Argentina was to give their youngsters much needed experience for future tournaments. In that regard, the young Costa Rican team gave a good account of themselves by narrowly losing 1-0 to Colombia before running circles around Bolivia with a wonderful 2-0 win. Jole Campbell was a real discovery for the Ticos in the Bolivia game and scored the second goal. Campbell’s pace was also on display for the final group game against Argentina but Costa Rica never stood a chance against a Messi inspired Argentina team who won 3-0 but could have scored more goals. Still, Costa Rica narrowly missed making the quarter-finals and were only edged out on goal difference by Paraguay for the second of the best third team spots. Costa Rica can call their participation in the Copa a success and Campbell’s display is already drawing interest from both Arsenal and Manchester United.