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| Jesus Moises Rodriguez in a spot of sexual servitude for White America. |
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| All in a day's work. |
At a glance:
Variety's eloquent Todd McCarthy has called this is a
"nihilistic high-art film marked by fashionable static takes, banal minimalist dialogue, glacial pacing and ultra-violence", consistin of
"long stretches of dreary quotidian activity shrouded in dread due to something very bad you know is coming, all in the interests of presenting a rigorously reductive slice of earthly hell." So perish all thoughts of this bein an artsier
A Better Life (2011). Mexican helmer Amat Escalante sees fit to put us through 98 minutes of said elements, a slow and curious examination into the taken-for-granted comforts of American life. We have hard hombre Jesus (Jesus Moises Rodriguez) and the younger, angrier Fausto (Rubén Sosa) waitin by the road to be picked up for illegal day labour by shortchangin gringos. Up until this point, you'd think this was an immigrant documentary. Then it turns into an R-rated home invasion thriller, involvin a single mother (Nina Zavarin) and her son (Trevor Glen Campbell). It has been described as a movie that builds up to just one moment of very realistic violence.
Bad news on the doorstep:
I'm actually doin my best to make it palatable.
The Bastards squeezes into the narrow space that separates pretentious narcissism and high art, always leavin us to wonder just what the intentions of the filmmakers are. Just because a movie is very slow, it doesn't make it deep or meaningful. A decision is required on your part if you succeed in lastin it.
Perennial wonderment:
Why does someone in a position of power choose to engage in a spot of sexual servitude? Is this depravity a critique on middle-class American consumerism, as I read? It's disenchanted sex any road. The two lead antagonists are non-pros as well. Wish I could figure it out. There's somethin quite sad to it.
Reminds me of:
Baise-Moi (2000) and
Funny Games (1997).
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Like a fable, but a narrative only for the patient. Don't be fooled by the crime drama packagin from the DVD cover. Somethin very primal about these characters compliments the minimalist technique we see in Michael Haneke and Lars von Trier movies. White America's worst stereotypes about Hispanics fulfilled. Unsettlin, to say the least - but with a stab at redemption near the end.
★★1/2
Bonus material:
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Construction work. Cunninglingus. Reheatable TV dinners. Skinny-dipping.
Los Bastardos has it all. |
Bad news on the doorstep:
Perennial wonderment:
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
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