Los Bastardos (2008)

Jesus Moises Rodriguez in a spot of sexual servitude for White America.

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:

Construction work. Cunninglingus. Reheatable TV dinners. Skinny-dipping. 
Los Bastardos has it all.

Seventh Moon (2008)

At a glance:

Burning effigies:
A multi-million dollar industry.

I've decided to revisit some of the more recent films about the Hungry Ghost Festival, the calendar staple that lends such a rich source for ghost stories when I was growin up. This American horror indie would've disappeared under the radar, if it were not written and directed by Blair Witch Project (1999) mastermind Eduardo Sánchez and had the dirty star appeal of Amy Smart in the lead. Seventh Moon is based on the Chinese legend that on the full moon of the seventh lunar month, the gates of Hell open and the Dead can enter the realm of the Livin. Melissa (Amy Smart) and Yul (Tim Chiou), Americans on a honeymoon in China, end up lost in a remote village, thanks to nervous taxi driver Ping (Dennis Chan).

Bad news on the doorstep:

Horror movie pre-requisite:
Doin what you're not supposed to. Without backup.

The burnt offerings may be lost on Western viewers but for anyone comin from this part of the world, it's pretty creepy stuff - although Eduardo Sánchez seems to have taken a wrong turn somewhere and turned this into a monster movie by the third act. Many critics have lamented on the decision to overuse the shaky cam technique here, a favourite for the director. I believe that the excessive quick cuts and only half-seein the obviously obscured "ghosts" took some of the spook out of what was set to be a fairly creepy effort.

Perennial wonderment:

Amy Smart:
I'm sexy but do they know it?

Why can't Amy Smart make it like Blake Lively? I remember her vaguely in early films like Varsity Blues (1999) and Road Trip (2000) but it was in The Butterfly Effect (1994) opposite Ashton Kutcher that I thought she was really gonna make it. After the two Crank movies, I don't think she has anythin substantial lined up on her CV. What a waste. I always look forward to her gettin her kit off.

Reminds me of:

Kelvin Tong's The Maid (2005) and Herman Yau's The First 7th Night (2009).

Watch out for:

Dennis Chan Kwok San 陈国新 as the cabbie Ping. Nice to see some old hands still findin work. The man has worked in the Hong Kong film and television industry as a producer, director and actor for more than 30 years, perhaps best known to Western audiences for his work in Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Kickboxer franchise. His latest appearance on the big screen was a cameo in Andy Lau's box office gem A Simple  Life (2011) @ Sister Peach.

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
The two leads do their best and give us some reason to care for them but the supernatural elements grew tiresome. DVD Active's Gabriel Powers notes that the climax is so similar to The Descent (2005) that Neil Marshall should call his lawyers. For further info, visit the Seventh Moon official site, which is oddly still up today. ★★
Bonus material:

For the unitiated, this is what every Chinese production does before shootin and not just those that concern ghosts.

Bronson (2008)

Tom Hardy goes full frontal as Charles Bronson.

At a glance:

When Tom Hardy isn't beatin Batman to a pulp in The Dark Knight Rises (2012) or beatin Channing Tatum to a pulp in Warrior (2011) or beatin mythical monsters to a pulp in Minotaur (2006), he's beatin prison guards to a pulp in Bronson (2008), a stylised, comical and surreal biopic of Charles Bronson. Not the similarly bemoustached American actor in Western flicks, mind you, but the incorrigible problem prisoner that has gained international attention as Britain's most violent detainee. Born Michael Gordon Peterson, the bane (sorry, couldn't resist) of all correctional facilities across England has a well-documented life behind bars (30 years in solitary confinement!), stretchin decades and formin a catalogue of wonderful ball-breakin material to work with. He's still in jail as far as I know and has Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn to thank for fuellin his narcissism. Fans of his Drive (2011) and his powerful Pusher films will attest to the director's precision in filmmakin.

Matt King in a standout supportin performance
as a mastermind poof.

Bad news on the doorstep:

It's a first person narrative play, you know. You might not like the drollery if you thought this was Un Prophète (2009) meets Chopper (2000). Bronson is portrayed as an inarticulate, attention-seekin slab of muscle with a penchant for theatrics. His excesses are crude, futile and disaffectin to watch. However, a resplendent Tom Hardy does give a very disturbin intensity to him - an underclass anti-hero who just doesn't seem to know any better. Your views on crime and punishment will come into play when relatin to such a crass character, which in turn may determine just how much you enjoy the film.

"You shouldn't mess with boys bigger than you."

Perennial wonderment:

Can someone like this be helped? I'd buy ol' Charlie some nasi kukus ayam berempah and maybe he'd lighten up a little, after so many years under Her Majesty's Pleasure.

Reminds me of:

I don't know. How many ex-cons do I know who's also a Moslem apostate (Charles Ali Ahmed), post office robber, exercise book author, bare-knuckle boxer, Tesco worker, painter and cartoonist? Is it any surprise that he's apparently also a friend of the Kray twins?

"Fancy a cup of British char?"

I can't remember if I cried:

Go visit the official website where they tell you Charles Bronson has been in jail since 1974 for stealin £26.18. He's only still inside because he keeps fightin back and not because that's the sentence for petty theft. Still it's agonisin to read such a summary. I also felt a strange despair watchin Bronson's zoned-out girlfriend Allison (Juliet Oldfield) dump him for havin no ambition. I guess that's Tom Hardy's talent, herein proven to be a commodity that's beyond the 100 pounds of muscle he put on for the role.

Most memorable line:

Nothin he says particularly stands out but the throwback soundtrack really hits all the right notes. It includes the Walker Brothers' The Electrician and Pet Shop Boys' It's A Sin - definitely worth a download.

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

★★★ 1/2 for an innovative, unexpected approach. Variety's John Anderson notes that Bronson has cult hit written all over it and that gleeful brutality and intellectual mischief have become the bloodstained callin cards of Nicolas Winding Refn while Film Four's Jonathan Crocker says he has framed this anti-biopic of Britain’s most notorious prisoner as a 21st century Clockwork Orange (1971), damned near pullin it off. Well, here's one for the Sorry True Stories tab, eh. So, when's a Mike Tyson biopic gonna be made?
Bonus material:

"Why so serious?"

Cold Prey (2008) @ Fritt Vilt II

"I'm here to shoot all blondes scream queens."

Ingrid lookin like hot prey at the Amanda Awards
where she took Best Actress for this role.
That's the Norwegian Oscars, you philistine.

At a glance:

Easily the strongest in the successful Norwegian horror trilogy, Cold Prey 2 @ Fritt Vilt II trumps the 2006 original in every turn, providin more sympathetic characters and marginally more original scares. In a sequel approach similar to Halloween II (1981), we pick up the hypothermia right where we left off, followin Jannicke (returnin Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) to a local hospital after she has been rescued. Debutin helmer Mats Stenberg replaces director Roar Uthaug and is found stretchin with an iffy resurrection plot, but perhaps his vision (and no doubt, improved budget) is to be credited for makin those shadowy hospital corridors an interestin enough place to be taken to this time.

Bad news on the doorstep:

Marthe Snorresdotter Rovik

Funny this had a theatrical release in Malaysia in 2009 under the now-dormant Cathay-Keris distribution arm, when no Malaysian ever saw the original in the cinemas. However, as Syahida Kamarudin points out, you don't need prior knowledge of the birthmarked butcher to enjoy this one on its own, although she rues the cinema experience in that notoriously scissor-happy territory. Ostensibly a feminist reviewer, the writer notes that Ingrid Bolsø Berdal is not your typical Hollywood hot babe in distress and is believably great to watch. However, myself now with the privilege of havin seen the original, expected more from Ingrid. Due to the immediacy of the continuin events, a more compellin character arc wasn't possible, so we don't get to see more development from her character, despite admittedly bein even more badass with her weopon of choice, the pickaxe. Come to think of it, if both Part I and II were viewed back-to-back, it would've made a resoundingly satisfyin watch.
Perennial wonderment:
Where is Marthe Snorresdotter Rovik now, the actress who played the cute doctor?

Reminds me of:

The time I was trapped in an industrial-sized refrigerator. I ate all the ice-cream while I was in there.

"Bollocks. Why can't you clean his rectum for a change?"

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Three stars is possible if you watched this in a big cinema with lots of excitable women.
Bonus material:

"They're not goin to bring him back to life AGAIN in Part III, are they?"

Reykjavík-Rotterdam (2008)

At a glance:

You'd probably never come across this one, unless you were seekin it out. Reykjavík-Rotterdam (2008) is the original movie that spawned that Hollywood remake starrin Mark Wahlberg, Contraband (2012). It's apparently the largest movie that was ever done in Iceland and stars a who's who of Iceland's finest, if only we bloody knew who those are. What we do know is that Baltasar Kormákur, the main actor in this movie, later returned as director for the Hollywood flick. The title basically refers to the plot - a smugglin run between two ports.

Bad news on the doorstep:

Lilja Nótt Þórarinsdóttir

Dammit I ain't seen me an Icelandic film for more than 10 years since 101 Reykjavík (2000) and this turned out pretty forgettable. Cineastes who seek out Óskar Jónasson's original hopin to catch a superior film will end up fairly disappointed - it's simpler, shorter and not much more fun. Mark Wahlberg had to drag himself through psychotic criminals and killer high seas for more than two hours but Baltasar Kormákur wraps it all up under 88 minutes. Make no mistake, it's definitely a remake - but it is unclear if one was expanded from the other or if deleted elements from the original were simply restored in the remake. The main difference is that Reykjavík-Rotterdam is about smugglin alcohol and Contraband goes for funny money. However, everythin else is similar, down to Kate Beckinsale's anonymous blonde role bein copied from Lilja Nótt Þórarinsdóttir's uneventful turn.
Perennial wonderment:
If Contraband was gonna be rated R anyway, why not throw in some titties? This Icelandic flick has got some trademark dry Scandinavian humour but sorely needed some grunge and spunk.
Reminds me of:

Leadin man Baltasar Kormákur (pic) reminds me of Bollywood badboy Emraan Hashmi. 

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Two and half. They sent it as Iceland's Oscars 2010 submission for Best Foreign Language Pic anyway. 

Trailer for the curious:

Gomorrah (2008)

At a glance:

It's not every day you watch a movie that turned one author's exposé into an international blockbuster and got him permanent police escort by the Italian government, effectively walkin around with a fat price tag on his head. That's Roberto Saviano, the man who wrote the tell-all 2006 book with the same name, about the Naples-based criminal organisation most know as the Camorra. You can see why these mobsters want him shot - the book sold more than two million copies in Italy alone reportedly and got translated and published in more than 40 countries. That's not somethin you want the world to know if you're an organisation with a worse reputation than those other gun-totin folks in Sicily who got more Hollywood screen time. The frightenin details in Matteo Garrone's unglamourous direction and Maurizio Braucci's unflinchin screen treatment are already evident in an openin scene set in a tannin shop - you never know when they come at you, you just know that they will. This pretty much sets the tone for the documentary-like feature. We follow a few characters around and have a privileged inside look at how the Camorra affects their lives.
Bad news on the doorstep:
Stayin as far away as possible from the lionisation and glorification of gangsters, Gomorra (in Italian) isn't The Godfather (1972) or Scarface (1983) which is ironically referenced in a scene where two young wannabe mobsters mimic Al Pacino in the de Palma classic) but more like an even gritter Eastern Promises (2007) without the stylish dialogue and A-list stars. Gomorrah distinguishes itself by focusin on gang activity instead of gangsters. Highlights include the illegal toxic waste industry (Carmine Paternoster as a young grad who unassumingly works for a ruthless contractor played by Toni Servillo) and the illegal immigrant issue (Salvatore Cantalupo as a skilled tailor who accepts a job trainin Chinese workers). The best developed story is that of Don Ciro (Gianfelice Imparato) a reluctant go-between who visits families of jailed or dead gangsters to distribute cash. This one exceptionally brings forward themes of desperation but generally all the stories convey the inescapability of normal people from the long arms of the Camorra and their criminal network.

Perennial wonderment:

If my Neapolitan friend Marina will ever quit her pharmaceutical career and enter into an international cocaine-in-mozzarella drug ring with me.

Reminds me of:

Marina's cousin, who told me that they love Chinese people in Napoli because we're easy target for anythin.

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Four stars. Gomorrah is Italy's submission to the 2008 Oscars for Best Foreign Language Pic and was a Palme d'Or nominee at Cannes. It's dead serious and ought to be appreciated as such, especially when you know the man who brought this story out into the open is unlikely to ever lead a normal life. A true thinkin man's gangster flick, it will end as suddenly as it started and get you wishin there was more to see, despite already clockin in two hours and 17 minutes.

The Dead Girl (2006)

Rose Bryne plays a long-grieving sister in The Dead Girl (2006).

At a glance:

Kerry Washington plays a lesbian hooker.
Not a very flattering shot, though.

Sometimes when I'm reminded of Brittany Murphy's sudden demise, I think of two things. One would be her boinkin Eminem at the car factory in 8 Mile (2002). The other would be her titular role in The Dead Girl (2008), somethin that will forever be a chillin irony after her tragic death in December 2009. Karen Moncrieff's The Dead Girl is a disturbingly powerful vignette piece about a dead girl and five women who are connected in some way or another to her. The Stranger (Toni Collette) is the awkward daughter of an abusive mother who finds empowerment when she finds the titular corpse. The Sister (Rose Byrne) is a depressed forensics student who tries to find closure by insisting that the corpse is that of her lost sister. The Wife (Mary Beth Hurt) is the thankless murderer's wife who almost reports her husband to the authorities but for a change of heart. The Mother (Marcia Gay Harden) is a clueless middle-class woman who cannot understand why her dead daughter left home even before she was killed; and finds some answers via a whore who used to live with her daughter. Lastly, The Dead Girl is a young woman who is shown to live a blameless life just days before she meets her grisly end. No - it's not a horror. It's not a murder thriller either. It's a beautifully restrained character study that benefits from a stellar cast and their solid performances. Flyin in the face of the adage ‘the dead tell no tales', this movie asks the questions nobody likes to hear; all through the cinematic device of a motionless corpse. Contrasted against a wasteland of a backdrop, we see characters and their motives - some noble, some ugly; but always unflinchingly realistic. It's the sort of movie that finds appreciation only through what we want to understand and derive from it.

Marcia Gay Hayden

Bad news on the doorstep:
Of course, what we understand and derive from it will always be contingent on the emotional force that drives it. Herein The Dead Girl suffered from the age-old censorship bug when I first viewed it in 2008 under Cathey-Keris' banner in Malaysia. The full texture of the film has been compromised by the cuttin of scenes instrumental to conveying the bleakness of the subject matter at hand.

Perennial wonderment:

What did happen to Brittany Murphy? Widower died at the same house, too. It had somethin to do with toxic mould, they said.

Mary Beth Hurt

Reminds me of:

Jindabyne (2006), The Invisible (2007), The Burning Plain (2008) and Brick (2005).

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Thankfully, the strength of its performances survives this. I cannot think of a single poor movie with Toni Collette in it - this one just improves the statistic. Hers is just one of five characters and the rest of the cast are, pardon the pun, dead solid. Permeatin the emotional undercurrent is also a well-chosen music score to bring out the best in that sun-bleached, dry discomfort of L.A. backcountry. There is little more you can ask from The Dead Girl, except maybe another five stories from this excitin director. Maybe this time we could be spared the veiled feminism though, eh?★★★
The day the music died:

R.I.P. Brittany Murphy
(November 10, 1977 – December 20, 2009)

Brittany Murphy at The Dead Girl World Premiere and AFI Special Presentation
at AFI FEST 2006 / The Loft in Los Angeles, California.

Barbi3 (2008)

At a glance:
Ngapain sih lu? Nggak ngapa-ngapain kok. Just watchin a stupid movie every now and then to keep it real. Didn't know I'd really hit it though. This is Monty Tiwa's idea of an Indon answer to Mean Girls, where Titi Kamal (centre), Poppy Sovia (left) and Francine Roosenda (right) play the most irritatin wannabe American highschool girls ever.
Bad news on the doorstep:
Titi O Titi, you ain't got much time left. Wonder how her restaurant's doin. Borin, overdone teen plot. Fluff.
Watch out for:
Cathy Sharon as Helen. Like Liv Tyler took Teri Hatcher's lips and turned Indon.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Some decent music, the Melly Goeslaw title track sang by Rossa especially. Unexpected depth in dialogue every now and then. If you buy the VCD, there's a 15-minute featurette at the end to console you. ★★

Deadly Delicious (2008) @ 女人有毒 @ 双食记

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

At a glance:
Directorial debut of screenwriter Zhao Tian Yu, about two women, a man and how food can be an instrument of evil. Themes of infidelity and revenge. Reminds me of films like Thinner (1996), Perfume (2006) and Chocolat (2000). Decent premise, adequate suspense.
Bad news on the doorstep:
The ladies - Yu Nan (left) from Tuya's Marriage (2006) and Jiang Yi Yan, (right, Zhang Zi Yi lookalike) aren't too pretty and they sometimes look like each other. Other complaints I read concern the distant characters and inconsequential dialogue. Francis Ng did his best, I guess. But the movie really needed somethin sicker or at least some token sex scenes.
Watch out for:
Terrapin beheadin on wooden choppin board with Chinese cleaver. Always nice to see. People need to be more unflinchin. Reminds me of the poor turtle in Cannibal Holocaust (1980).
Most memorable line:
Ah I'll get back to you on this. Francis Ng orders a long list of funky gourmet shyte to impress his air-stewardess girlfriend.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Doesn't really hit the pyschological thriller high notes I'd like, though it's rather dark and sombre. At times, unanappetisingly cold, like some of the various dishes featured in the film. Better than what I'd expect from a commercial Mainland movie though.★★1/2

Maria Larsson's Everlasting Moments (2008) @ Maria Larssons Eviga Ögonblick

At a glance:
Sweden's proud submission for Best Foreign Language Pic at this year's Academy Awards, Maria Larsson's Everlasting Moments really do seem to last forever, clockin a 131-minute runtime filled with socialist sentiments, early photography techniques and a whole lot of 1900s alcoholism, infidelity and domestic violence. Not to be confused as the biopic of a current Swedish politician, the oft-reviewed period drama is a semi-rewardin foray into the true story of a laundry woman livin in those times who won a camera in a lottery and pursued the art of masterin the curious contraption as a hobby, despite her surroundin poverty and matrimonial problems.
Bad news on the doorstep:
Perhaps due to it being an adaptation from research and interviews conducted between the director's wife and the daughter of the 19th century woman, a story as real as Maria Larsson's will give rise to uneven attention bein paid to a whole volume of events, especially without an expert touch. Director Jan Troell's product is a subtle drama without much darkness or humour, resultin in an insightful but ultimately mediocre experience in terms of full-epic impact.
Reminds me of:
Angela's Ashes (1999) with Robert Carlyle.
Watch out for:

Director Jan Troell

The titular lead played by Maria Heiskanen is half the strength of the film, a character which other reviewers have described as bein afforded an Imelda Staunton-like portrayal with equal ease in carryin angst and tenderness. However a much more visually-arrestin character is her drunkard wife-beater of a husband Sigfried, played by a faultless Mikael Persbrandt (pic). You know a good actor when you fail to hate his character despite him doin some truly horrendous things. The other prominent part is photo shop enthusiast Sebastian Pedersen (Jesper Christensen), who plays a kind man fuellin Maria's love for the lens and ends up fallin for her.
Most memorable line:
This is what I mean by the lack of epic strength. Can't think of one.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Perhaps this is an eye-opener to study his other works such as The Emigrants, Here's Your Life, Hamsun and The New Land. For now this is a two and a half star effort.
Trailer for the curious:

Bonus material:

Maria Heiskanen says... smile!!!

Dying Breed (2008)

No happy movies may come out of this continent!

Nathan Phillips

At a glance:
Combinin true Australian convict camp history with standard slasher movie elements, Dying Breed (2008) is an interestin but rather unbalanced take on what happens if fictitious descendants of a certain 19th century Irish escapee named Alexander Pearce decide to continue his messy habit of eatin people. Shot in Tasmania and Melbourne (includin the Pieman River on the West Coast of Tasmania, which is named after the shoe-stealin baker in question), Dying Breed reminds us of recent B-grade interests like The Tattooist and The Ferryman - they all feature location-centric themes with decent production values and considerable special effects but ultimately short of a few really good scares to make a memorable movie. Here, we follow Tasmanian tiger hunters Jack (Nathan Phillips, Wolf Creek), Matt (Leigh Whannell, Saw), Rebecca (Melanie Vallejo) and Nina (Mirrah Foulkes) as the foursome unravel the mystery behind a quiet swamp of a village where tourists go missin and pies taste good.
Bad news on the doorstep:
However, the weak link to whatever that is authentic, historical or indigenous is soon revealed and their half-intense adventures never do seem to hit that high note. The makers seemed to have gone through a lot to get this movie done, with the production notes claimin a 28-day shoot that was blighted by 80km winds, sleet and 600mm rain in three days, en route to discoverin it was the worst weather in Tasmania for 10 years. When you read that 80% of this movie is really shot around the area where the Pieman events happened, it seems a little sorry if you consider this a wasted opportunity. This gets censored pretty bad too if you're watchin the Malaysian theatrical release.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Nothin terribly original about this but we do get proper storytellin (unlike other low-budget horrors) and it does have its moments. Pieman's story has recently been made into another movie called Van Diemen's Land, released in Australia in September 2009. Perhaps that would be a more rewardin watch than this.★★1/2

The Good Life (2008) @ La Buena Vida

Have you ever heard of the Chilean piledriver?

At a glance:
From the director of Historias Del Futbol and La Fiebre Del Loco (as if I've seen them), this award-winnin 2008 Chilean drama is a tight, well-edited caper about Teresa the government social helper, Edmundo the hairdresser, Mario the clarinet player and an unnamed prostitute, who all share one thing in common - the cruelty of life in Santiago when the goin gets tough. Roberto Farías (tache, pic) gives the most vivid portrayal of a down-and-out thirtysomethin hairdresser who lives with his mum still and can't find the money to impress a girl, buy a car or finance his father's reburial. Meanwhile, Aline Küppenheim gives the standout performance as a torn woman who cannot reconcile her failure in bringin up her daughter well and keepin her husband happy with her job of sex education at the government help centre. However, the best explored of these is Eduardo Paxeco's turn as gifted clarinetist Mario, whose dreams of playin for the Philharmonic are constantly bein ruined by people who just didn't have the time for him.
Bad news on the doorstep:
Lackin a certain tenderness and a certain endurance.
Perennial wonderment:
Chile makes movies? Please recommend me some, if you know any.
Watch out for:
The other character in this movie - the most elusive and perhaps, purposefully unexamined. Appearin only a few times, we see a destitute prostitute facing all sorts of problems that nobody seems to be able to help her with. She represents all the untold stories that remain untold in a city like Santiago, contrasted against the three main characters in this movie who do get told.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Two and a half. Unlike similar Hollywood efforts like Crash, the stories in this movie are weaved into each other not by a didactic central theme but merely by the pivotal urban location in which it all takes place. The characters don't need to meet up in the end like a beautiful fairytale with strong social messages. They need only live out their story in the short duration of the movie convincingly and we get a peek into the fairly interestin private lives of these people.

Bonus material:

The good life. Really?