SIFF ’12: Unit 7

You do not typically find nacro-gangsterism exhibits at a World’s Fair.  The Seville civic authorities aim to keep it that way.  A special four cop unit will be turned loose with decidedly result-oriented rules of engagement in Alberto Rodriguez’s Unit 7 (trailer here), which screens during the 2012 Seattle International Film Festival, following its earlier international premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.

Ángel is an ambitious cop, but asthma (a biographical detail that may or may not loom large later in the film) has cut short his hopes of career advancement.  Instead, he is assigned to Unit 7, a small autonomous squad charged with cleaning up Seville in the years leading up to the 1992 World Expo.  It is not the sort of stint that looks good on a resume, but it is a good gig for snagging a spare kilo here and there.  As the years pass, Ángel’s unit becomes a criminal outfit onto itself, but they remain steadfast taking the fight to Seville’s hardcore bad guys.

Nobody in the unit is fiercer than the devout Rafael.  The term tightly wound does not even come close to describing him.  However, when he tries to reform and possible strike up a relationship with Lucía, an attractive junkie, he starts to mellow.  It also opens up new vulnerabilities in the Spanish Dirty Harry.  Indeed, a major reckoning is clearly in the wind.

As a cop drama, Unit 7 is basically standard issue stuff.  The action sequences are rather middling and the absence of a defining villain is a drawback.  In fact, despite its grit and cynicism, the film is surprisingly sluggish at times.  Still, Unit 7 has two things going for it: the cinematic march of time illustrated by the yearly stages of the World Expo construction and the powerhouse work of Antonio de la Torre as Rafael.  While not a showy performance, he seethes like a monster.

In contrast, Mario Casas plays Ángel, the compromised idealist, like a petulant frat boy.  Rounding out the unit, Joaquín Núñez’s Mateo is more like a schlubby Cheers patron than a crooked vigilante cop, while José Manuel Poga does not even get his own shtick as the bland Miguel.  However, Lucía Guerrero is convincingly all kinds of trouble as her addict namesake.

On paper, Unit 7 looks like a highly promising if not strikingly original concept.  Yet, it never fully comes together.  There is some stylishly work from cinematographer Alex Catalán, a show-stopping turn from de la Torre, and a fair number of memorable scenes scattered throughout the film, but there are few surprises as to where it is all headed.  An okay time killer for those hooked on cop movies, but nothing more, Unit 7 screens June 8^th and 9^th during the 2012 SIFF, hard on the heels of its fairly well received debut at Tribeca.

SIFF ’12: The Last Man on Earth

It turns out there really are little grey aliens out there.  The X-Files had them perfectly pegged physically, but the rest of their nature has yet to be determined.  They are coming though.  A motley assortment of Italians await their anticipated arrival during the planet’s final pre-contact days in Gian Alfonso Pacinotti’s deceptively spoilerishly titled The Last Man on Earth (trailer here), which screens as part of the 2012 Seattle International Film Festival.

Luca Bertacci is a miserable man leading a depressing life.  The anti-social bingo parlor waiter has issues with women, but he is not too fond of men either.  Perhaps logically, his only friend (strictly platonic) is a transvestite prostitute.  Still, there are understandable reasons for his emotional deep freeze.  Despite his long nurtured resentments, he finds himself pining for Anna Luini, a pretty neighbor across the street.

Unlike the rest of the world, Bertacci tries not to think about the aliens, so he is rather surprised to find his elderly father cohabitating with an early arriver.  It seems to be a chaste relationship, but her presence invigorates the old man.  Bertacci even starts talking to Luini.  It isn’t pretty, but it is a beginning.  Unfortunately, mistakes in their private lives might have rather cosmic implications as first contact approaches.

Bertacci is hardly a typical sci-fi action protagonist.  Rather than I Am Legend, think of him more like the guy in the “if you were the last man on Earth” expression.  Still, the aliens really are coming, which serves as an amusing Rorschach for various characters’ neuroses.  During the opening credits, one radio talk show caller even expresses concern for the impact on small market football teams.  In a way, Last is like two (or perhaps one and a half) decidedly oddball love stories, connected by unrestrained existential dread.

Hardly kid-friendly space opera, Last lurches into some pretty ominous places, but Gabriele Spinelli solidly anchors it all as Bertacci.  While sympathetic, there is clearly something off about the waiter that is never fixed with a neat psychological contrivance.  Frankly, it is pretty engrossing just watching the dysfunctional gears turning in his head.  Though she only has one really heavy scene, Anna Bellato is a dynamic presence as her namesake, while the makeup obscured Sara Rosa Losilla’s weirdly awkward body language perfectly suits the alien.

A distinctive work of cerebral social science fiction, Last would make a good double feature with Nacho Vigalondo’s Extraterrestrial, which also screens at SIFF this year.  Of course, Pacinotti’s film would definitely be the darker half.  Yet, the comic artist (a.k.a. Gipi) turned director never allows the angst to overwhelm the story.  Recommended for discerning genre fans, Last Man on Earth screens today (5/25), Monday (5/28), and Thursday (5/31) during SIFF.

SIFF ’12: The Last Christeros

One of the Twentieth Century’s bloodiest assaults on religious freedom happened in the western hemisphere.  It was perpetrated by “revolutionary” socialist president Plutarco Calles, whose iron-fisted anti-clerical policies inspired a real grassroots revolution.  By the 1930’s an uneasy and imperfect peace had been brokered, but scattered bands of Cristero resistance fighters held out as best they could.  One of the final squads grapples with their destiny in Matías Meyer’s The Last Christeros (trailer here), which screens during the 2012 Seattle International Film Festival.

Mexico is still a land of wide vistas John Ford could love, but it is steadily closing in on the Cristero remnants.  Pursued by a company of Federales, Col. Florencio Estrada’s troops are running low on everything, including bullets.  Word reaches them of an amnesty, which some of the men are willing to consider.  However, Estrada has been down that road before.  Calles had violated the terms of truces before and the period of his unelected “Maximato” was still underway.  Though he misses his wife and daughters, Estrada has long since realized he will meet his end through this war, one way or another.

To establish the stakes of the Cristero revolution, Meyer opens the film with the 1969 oral history recording of Francisco Campos, who very well may have been the last Cristero.   However, that is about as deeply as the film delves into the political, historical, and religious significance of the civil war.  Instead, Last Christeros (for some reason, the international title carries the Anglicized “h,” while most references to the Cristeros maintain the original spelling) is an impressionistic depiction of the trying conditions endured by the weary freedom fighters.  Theirs is not an existential life though.  Rather, they live for a purpose.

Though the ensemble consists largely of neophyte actors, they all look convincingly gaunt and weathered.  Alejandro Limon is particularly haunting as the dedicated (and/or resigned to his fate) Estrada.  Yet, the picture’s defining work is that of cinematographer Gerardo Barroso, who creates painterly-like tableau of the rugged terrain and hardscrabble villages the Cristeros silently trudge through.  Galo Duran’s evocative soundtrack also helps set an appropriately wistful mood.

For those thinking the Cristero revolt would also readily lend itself to a more traditional historical drama take heart—Andy Garcia rides into theaters with For Greater Glory on June 8^th.  This mini-boomlet of interest in the Cristeros is actually quite timely.  It reminds us of the price many have paid for liberty, in an election year.  If not exactly a work of advocacy cinema, Meyer certainly respects the Cristeros’ sacrifices.  Recommended for open minded cineastes, The Last Christeros screens tomorrow (5/21), Wednesday (5/23), and the Wednesday following (5/30) as part of this year’s Seattle International Film Festival.

SIFF ’12: The Small Assassin (short)

Ray Bradbury is cool. His story of infant paranoia first hit the pulps in 1946, decades before Rosemary’s Baby and the subsequent raft of rip-offs. Though mostly likely not supernatural per se, it is definitely a tale of ominous dread, nicely captured in Chris Charles’ faithful short film adaptation of The Small Assassin (trailer here), which screens Monday as part of the 2012 Soho International Film Festival.

Alice Leiber had a rough delivery, culminating with a caesarian section. Exhausted, she is convinced her baby was deliberately trying to kill her. Dr. Jeffers warns her husband David she is still a bit overwrought, but assures him it will pass. Of course, her obsessive terror gets progressively worse instead. Yet, there are signs her fears just might be justified.

Again, it is important to emphasize Bradbury staked out this territory first. In fact, the smaller, more intimate scale of the Grand Master’s story is arguably more disconcerting than the satanic horror cranked out by Polanski imitators. Charles and cinematographer Kevin Moss give it an appropriately moody noir treatment that is rather stylish. Indeed, it is quite a handsome production, well appointed with rich post-war pre-Mad Men period detail.

While there might be more is-he-or-isn’t-he ambiguity in the original story, Charles still builds the suspense skillfully. Most importantly, he has a shrewd sense of what to show and what to leave unseen.

A festival circuit road warrior finally arriving in the City, Small Assassin is well crafted short-form dark thriller that effectively demonstrates the talents of Charles and his filmmaking collaborators, while highlighting the depth and diversity of Bradbury’s literary oeuvre. Recommended without reservation for genre audiences, Assassin screens before a feature this coming Monday (4/16) during the Soho Film Festival (at the Landmark Sunshine) and will be available to a wider national audience later this year through the Shorts International and IndieFlix distribution platforms.