monos (w&d alejandro landes; w alexis dos santos)

The producer, local boy Fernando Epstein, answered questions at the end of this screening of Monos, a Colombian film, made with money from at least half a dozen countries. Producers aren’t often invited to speak after the screening of their movies, usually it’s the star or the director. Obviously, part of the reason Epstein was there was because this is a Uruguayan film festival, but on another level it seemed highly appropriate. Because, as much as, or even more than the creative input of script and direction, Monos is a feat of production. As Epstein observed, this is cinema on a scale that is rarely seen in Latin America. The obvious physical challenges the filming must have demanded add value to what’s on the screen. There’s an ambition at work which makes for an unusual and powerful film.

The film is constructed around the premise of a cell of child soldiers in Colombia. Whilst it feels at times like a Hollywood conceit, the idea is inspired by experiences of real kids in the long-running civil war. The teenagers, known only by their nicknames (Lady, Wolf, Dog, The Swede, Bigfoot, Smurf etc), have been put in charge of an American hostage. They exist in an isolated mountain hideout, with nothing to do except squabble, party and get on each other’s nerves. The set-up is pure Lord of the Flies, and soon enough things start to unravel. Following an attack, the group move to a new base in the jungle, where the pressures of collective living ramp up. When their gutsy hostage tries to escape, things really start to get out of hand and there’s self-conscious nod to Apocalypse Now, as the film hurtles towards its conclusion. 

The script does somersaults as it tries to maintain a narrative thread, but the film is carried by the visceral camerawork, the completely convincing acting, the wild landscape and a portentously brilliant score by Mica Levi. It’s a real example of the way in which cinema depends on the contribution of multiple talents in order to make its 100 minutes or so of screen time work. It’s possible to criticise Monos as overblown or sensationalist. Or it could be viewed as one of those films which comes out of nowhere with a freshness and pulsating vision which mark it out as truly distinctive.