Camino film review (Non Latino edition)

Title: Camino
Director: Javier Fesser
Genre: Drama
Country of Origin: Spain
Year: 2008
Rating: None
Time: 138 minutes 
Grade: ★★★


Camino is the 2008 Spanish film based on the story of Alexia González-Barros, a young girl who battled with spinal cancer and is currently on the process of canonization. Starring Nerea Camacho as Camino, a deeply religious girl who suffers from spinal cancer and the effects it has on her family and her faith. 

The two main themes of the film is first love and religion. Camino goes to a private Catholic school and her family is involved in Opus Dei, a Catholic organization. Despite trying her best to live an ordinary life of a teenager, Camino is unable to do much when she begins to suffer from the cancer that takes a bit of her life each time. The only thing that keeps her forward is her crush on a boy named Jesus which her religious mother mistakes as her proclamation of love towards Jesus Christ. The film divulges on irony of Catholicism and borderlines on how far religion can go in times of tragedy. 

While the film starts of slow and tedious, it gradually gets more heart-wrenching and even philosophical about the belief of God. Playing with the trope of magical realism, the otherwise tragedy of cancer is complimented with child-like fantasy in the form of dreams which Camino uses to escape the pain of cancer. It can touch many people from parents to even children about the faith of a young girl who accepts death with the remorse that all the things she will never go through. The depth of the film itself is amazing; the theme of faith itself can be determined the viewers as either irony or sincere. There will be at times that you may want to rip your hair out of frustration of faith (even as one who is Catholic herself, there were times I wanted to scream), if you're able to get past that, it's an enjoyable film. 

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El ángel del acordeon film review

Title: El Angel del Acordeon (The Angel of the Accordion)
Director: 
Genre: Drama
Country of Origin: Colombia 
Year: 2008
Rating: None
Time: 97 minutes 
Grade: ★★ 1/2


El Angel de Acordeon is a 2008 Colombian film starring Cesar Navarro, Carlos Arturo Buelvas, and Stephania Borge. The film tells the story of young Poncho, a love struck boy who is passionate about the accordion and uses his talent to win the girl of his dreams and become the "King of Vallenato". 

One of the most beautiful elements of the film is the music of the film. Vallenato is the folk music of Colombia and one of the music genre that is well known from Colombia. One of the main instruments in vallenato is the accordion which is the main symbol of the film. Throughout the film, vallenato is played by characters and is part of the soundtrack as well. In the film itself, vallenato is seen as magic, able to make chickens lay eggs and bring joy and love to the people of Colombia. Here comes Poncho, a young boy who has his own problems with his family and finds his happiness in vallenato music and his crush, the beautiful Sara Maria. 

However, despite the musical beauty the film has some flaws. Filled with cliches and an obvious Deux Ex Machina make the film difficult to believe that the protagonist could triumph on his own. For those familiar with Spanish novelas, you'll know that it's filled with over dramatic characters as well as an incredibly short time skip that leaves the viewers confused. The plot could have gone much further but leaves this viewer unsatisfied. If you do want to see it for yourself, give it a good view and you might enjoy it as a long music video. 

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Diarios de Motocicleta film review

Title: Diarios de Motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries)
Director: Walter Salles
Genre: Bio-pic
Country of Origin: Argentina
Year: 2004
Rating: R
Time: 126 minutes
Grade: ★★★

Diarios de Motocicleta is the 2004 Argentinian autobiographical film directed by Walter Salles. Starring Gael García Bernal as the famous revolutionary Che Guevara, the film covers the journey he takes all over South America that changes him from a medical student to a guerilla fighter.

Starting from when Che Guevara was simply Ernesto Guevara, a young medical student from Argentina, the film takes on the classic trope of self-discovery through a road trip but becomes less cliché when you realize this autobiographical. Based on Guevara’s own memoir, you’re taken into a journey that opens Guevara from his privileged life to the struggles that many South Americans faced during the 1950’s in a time of communism, dictatorship and poverty.

If you’re a fan of biopics or if you’re interested in Che Guevara himself, this film is definitely for you. However, it’s slow paced and not much action is included so for those who dislike biopics or action-less films, avoid it then. It’s a film that you will either hate or love, it all depends on your preference for films. For those interesting in expanding their minds, check it out on Netflix.

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Como Agua Para Chocolate review

Title: Como Agua Para Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate)
Director: Alfonso Arau
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country of Origin: Mexico 
Year: 1992
Rating: R
Time: 123 minutes
Grade: ★★★

Como Agua Para Chocolate is a 1992 Mexican film directed by Alfonso Arau. It tells the enchanting love story of Tita (Luma Cavazos) who must never marry or bear children in order to take care of her mother due to being the youngest daughter in her family. To make matters worse, she falls in love with the dashing Pedro Muzquiz (Marco Leonardi) who instead marries Tita's sister as a way to stay close to her. Unable to physically love him, her feelings come to life in the food she prepares and causes all those who eat to feel the same way she does. 

The film touches on themes of magical realism with exaggerations, ghosts, superstition and of course, magical food that makes you go crazy with emotions. It's never really explained in the film the reason why Tita has these powers but the way the characters react, you can see how intense this food is. The narration is told by Tita's descendant who tells the story of Tita. If I had to compare it with a film, it would Big Fish. It's magical but plausible; not too magical to make the audience question the logic behind. In the sense, you can see the beauty in the film. It doesn't make sense but it doesn't need to be so black and white;

that's its charm. 

The only argument I would have in this film is that it's slow paced so at times, you might wander off a bit while watching the movie (or perhaps it's my own impatience). My other critique is the film ending which seems rather anti-climatic? However, it's a film filled with passion and love along with delicious shots of food that will leave you hungry. It's available right now on Netflix and it was adapted by the novel by the same name. Check either one out, but I recommend the novel first. 

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Y Tu Mama Tambien film review

Title: Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mother Too)
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Genre: Drama
Country of Origin: Mexico 
Year: 2001
Rating: R
Time: 106 minutes
Grade: ★★★½

Y Tu Mama Tambien is a 2001 Mexican film directed by Alfonso Cuarón. It stars Diego Luna (Milk, The Terminal, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights), Gael García Bernal (The Motorcycle Diaries, Casa de Mi Padre) and Maribel Verdú (Pan's Labyrinth, The Alamo). The film is a coming of age story involving best friends Julio and Tenoch (played by Bernal and Luna respectively) who go on a road trip with the much older Luisa (played by Verdú) which secrets and trust are tested in one unforgettable summer.
 The film is known most popularly for bringing director Alfonso Cuarón fame. If the director doesn't sound familiar, it should. Alfonso Cuarón’s latest film Gravity has been the number one movie in America for three weeks in a row. He has also directed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azakaban and Children of Men. Y Tu Mama Tambien broke Cuarón into mainstream American cinema.
 However, this film isn’t without controversy. It has been criticized for its sex scenes, which are plentiful throughout the film. In fact, *spoiler alert* within 20 minutes into the movie, you’ll encounter two sex scenes, two nude scenes and one very racy scene. Still, to quote the late Roger Ebert, “The movie is realistic about sex, which is to say, franker and healthier than the smutty evasions forced on American movies by the R rating.” The sex scenes aren’t meant to be pornographic but rather give realism about the sex life of two normal male teenagers. It definitely isn’t a family friendly film; if you’re uncomfortable with strong sex scenes, then this film isn’t for you. But if you manage to get past the various sex scenes (and there are plenty), you’ll see a raw, honest film about friendship and the changes it undergoes as one grows up. Set in the background of a politically and economically unstable Mexico, you can easily ignore these important scenes if you blink. What I really enjoyed about the film was Cuarón’s choice in having a narrator in the film. An omniscient narrator acts as a tour guide to reveal the past, the unspoken present and the future of the characters that would never be revealed in the film itself but leaves you to ponder the fates about the characters. Overall this film is the embodiment of a drama
 but has room for a couple of laughs to keep it from getting too sappy. If you’re interested, it’s currently available on Netflix with English subtitles. It’s a film that will definitely stay on your mind for a while.  

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El Orfanato film review (Non-Latino Edition)

Title: El Orfanato (The Orphanage)

Director: J.A. Bonya

Genre: Horror

Country of Origin: Spain

Year: 2007

Rating: R

Time: 105 minutes

Rating: 4/5

El Orfanato is a 2007 Spanish horror film directed by J.A. Bonya and produced by Guillermo del Toro of Pan's Labyrinth fame. It stars Belén Rueda as Laura, a once orphaned child, now a wife and mother who purchases the old orphanage where she grew up. Her dream to create a new school becomes an unsettling nightmare when her son befriends a mysterious child who wears a sack mask and soon causes her own son's disappearance. It's up to her to uncover the mystery of the orphanage in order to find her son. 

What I truly enjoyed about this film is how it stands out against most traditional American horror films. Like most paranormal films, it derives elements of classic ghost stories (haunted orphanage, creepy children, having nobody believe in your claims, etc) but manages to blend it with themes of childhood, loss, and even nihilism.While it does have some frightening scenes, it doesn't rely too much on gore to scare the audiences but rather lets the tense atmosphere of the film play its own role. It also relies of the adult parental fear of losing children, creating a mixture of both horror and tragedy. The film becomes more than just your average ghost film, it becomes much more bittersweet. Even though El Orfanato is of Spanish origin, this film became successful in many Latin American countries and I felt it was worthy being mentioned in the blog in special honor. For those who don't enjoy watching films with subtitles, don't fret. Guillermo del Toro announced  an American remake is in plan some time in the future with Mark Pellington as director. 

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