Los muertos

Argentina, Switzerland, France, Netherlands

2004

78 Min

Color, Black and White

1.85:1

Guarani, Spanish

Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
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EXEC Florencia Enghel, Vanessa Ragone

PROD IIse Hughan, Marianne Slot

CAST Argentino Vargas, Francisco Dornez, Yolanda Galarza, Víctor Varela, Francisco Salazar, Hilda Chamorro, Ángel Vera

ED Lisandro Alonso, Ezequiel Borovinsky

MUSIC Flor Maleva

Cannes (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs), Locarno, Karlovy Vary (Forum of Independents): Independent Camera, Toronto, Vancouver, Rotterdam (Sturm und Drang), BAFICI, Ghent

Synopsis

Vargas, a 54 year old man, gets out of jail in the prvince of Corrientes, Argentina. Once released, he wants to find his now adult daughter, who lives in a swampy and remote area. To get there, he must cross great distances in a small boat on the rivers, scoring deep into the jungle. Vargas is a quiet and self-contained man. He possesses the restraint of those living close to nature. A deep mystery surrounds him, the people he encounters and the places he goes through, all that taking in the unalterable world he finds almost unchanged after his long years of incarceration. —IMDb

Director

Lisandro Alonso

Born in Buenos Aires in 1975, Lisandro Alonso studied at the Universidad del Cine (FUC) and co-directed in 1995 with Catriel Vildosola his first short film Dos en la Vereda (1995). After working as assistant sound engineer in many short films and a few features and as assistant director of Nicolas Sarquis for his film Sobre la Tierra, Lisandro Alonso returned to directing, making his first feature. In 2003 he founded 4L, a production company based in Buenos Aires, to produce his own films. Lisandro Alonso’s first feature La Libertad (2001) was chosen for the Festival de Cannes (Un Certain Regard). His most recent productions, Los Muertos (2004) and Fantasma (2006), were also invited to Cannes, premiering in the Director’s Fortnight. —The Match Factory

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Canaletto

2Aug10

The result of reading “Contemplative Filmmaking for Dummies”. Reygadas is accused of formulaic filmmaking, well, Alonso might as well be his master. Placing a non-actor in front of a camera automatically turns him into an actor, thus the importance of careful casting. Not a bit of realism or framing to impose any pseudo-psychology. It’s not that easy. It suffers from a serious case of *Nanook of the North* syndrome.

DeJardinblum likes this

Jerry Johnson

24Feb10

I'm not sure I've seen a 2000s film with more integrity. Alonso films real people in real surroundings and never once cheats his setting with his camera until the final shot. Zero psychology and zero shaky-cam. Like mana from heaven. I think the gringo critics have been misreading this film, seeing it as a Heart of Darkness journey into mysterious nature. This man is just returning to familiar home. There is no struggle against nature.

Sean John and odilonvert like this

w:i:l:b:e:r:t:o: :i:r:a:h:e:t:a:

25Jan10

Captures the banal evey day life with such radiant beauty and steady meditation.

Grey Daisies

14May09

Lisandro Alonso's slow-moving, mysterious and poetic images take us once again on a voyage through the nature of Argentina and it's residents. Mind-absorbing meditation at it's very best.