Reviews
Ronda nocturna (2005)
(Tango:) Zero Hour
Wearing a spotless white shirt and incessantly looking for clients to sell his body or drugs to, Victor strolls through the nights of Buenos Aires, vibrating city it appears to be. "Ronda Nocturna" follows this taxi boy's truly hallucinating trip on All Souls' night. Only a couple of (near imperceptible) slow motions slow down Victor's march.
Backed by Cine Ojo, a production house specialised in documentaries, writer-director Edgardo Cozarinsky tidily portrays Victor and his natural habitat, outcasts of a society that itself is on the edge. Avoiding demagogy or political discourse, Cozarinsky shows the state his native country is in. But not without losing his sense of humour! A hilarious scene in a luxurious building depicts a diplomat, accompanied by a harem of rent boys, who is complaining to a peer about the allowance he is supposed to live on in Switzerland. And of course there is the unforgettable one-night stand with Margaret Thatcher!
But Cozarinsky's major achievement is the subtlety with which he manages to slip a magic atmosphere in this raw-realist character study. Bizarre acts of love, dealing more with Thanatos than with Eros, make Victor doubt. Like vampires, lovers with scars hunger after their beloved. When the November 1st calendar paper is ripped off, the surreal night goes into its final lane. An encounter with an old sweetheart (an impressive Moro Anghileri) confronts Victor with his past his late youth in the country. He realises that his body is not meant for the things he does with it. At dawn, Victor is a changed man.
Potestad (2002)
Fascinating and intriguing
Potestad is a puzzle that is at the same time sublime and cruel: sublime because of its elaborated script, cruel because of its content. Bit by bit, each of the movie's numerous flashbacks completes the puzzle. After a screening in Bruges (Belgium), director D'Angiolillo explained he wanted the audience to gradually identify itself with the movie's protagonist. Partly thanks to the brilliant performance of medical doctor-actor Pavlovsky (who used to perform the text of Potestad on stage) D'Angiolillo reaches his target remarkably well. By focusing on the past and present of an individual and his relationship with his fellow human beings the movie explores Argentine's notorious dictatorship during the seventies. `Potestad' therefore recalls `La Historia Oficial' and `Garage Olimpo'. The main question coming to mind after having seen such a powerful piece of work is: Why do movies like this barely make it to the theatres whereas the whole world has no option but to watch the usual Hollywood rubbish?