A Peruvian film set in Canada in the early eighties. A fierce Canadian winter, where Roberto, recently arrived, gets dragged into his father’s macho snowy landscape, with predictably violent results. The closing credits make it clear that Roberto’s story runs parallel to events in Lima, where the Sendero Luminoso uprising is threatening to bring society to its knees. However, Lima, except for one call Roberto has with his mother, remains firmly off-screen. Instead the drama plays itself out as these immigrants, trapped in a self-regarding circle, edge their way towards tragedy, with Roberto’s frustrated adolescent energy proving the catalyst. The film profits from a suitably offbeat edit, the story gradually playing itself out with many details remaining unclear. Who exactly is Toño, the red-headed friend of Roberto’s father, Bob, who lives downstairs? How did Bob and his Canadian wife, who claims to be a journalist but shows no real sign of doing any journalism, actually meet? Bob is at the heart of the tale, a character straight out of Dylan’s Poor Immigrant, desperate to fit in and please and always destined to be on the outside. La Bronca, is a well-crafted domestic drama, but if you’re Peruvian one suspects there’s a whole other, darker level at work.
No comments:
Post a Comment