Chicago Latino Film Festival
Three little boys decide to conjure up the dark forces in this 1998 Brazilian comedy directed by A.S. Cecilio Neto. (Water Tower, 6:00)
The Comet
A small-town priest falls for a beautiful ex-con and joins her in heroin addiction. This 1998 film from Portugal seems driven more by its torrid scenes–priest with naked woman! priest shoots up!–than by its characters, whose motivations remain obscure. Some moments are dramatically effective (the fallen priest protecting a group of Gypsies, for instance), but director Joaquim Leitao provides more cynical exploitation than genuine insight. It worked–Temptation was the biggest box-office hit in Portuguese history. (FC) (Water Tower, 6:30)
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What begins as an atmospheric and remarkably evenhanded portrayal of teenage hoodlum life in Argentina quickly degenerates into a derivative soap opera. Two petty thieves–diminutive, smooth-talking Fideo, who has a knack for auto theft, and shy, romantic Panta, who dreams in tacky 80s rock videos–plan their escape to the U.S. but are hounded by a corrupt and vindictive policeman. Director Fernando Musa shows great sensitivity and reserve in depicting the complex relationship between the teens, but the drama is undermined by the relentlessly absurd fantasy sequences (several of which involve the Statue of Liberty), overly self-conscious dialogue, improbable cops-and-robbers high jinks, and a preposterous, maudlin climax (1998). (AL) (Water Tower, 8:45)
The Bearers of Civilization
Members of a championship soccer team are suspected of taking bribes, and their headstrong coach decides to ferret out the culprit in this 1998 Colombian drama. The coach persuades the girlfriend of the team’s black star to spy on the players (though we never learn why she’s allowed to remain in the all-male sanctum of the locker room), and she zeroes in on a balding veteran near retirement. Hernan Mendez, weary and disillusioned as the chief suspect, and Ana Soler, his taunting inquisitor, engage in a give-and-take more charged than any soccer match, and though director Ricardo Coral-Dorado can’t quite sustain the whodunit suspense, he does tease a lot of tension from the verbal sparring among the spy and the players, exposing the teammates’ resentments and animosities. (TS) (Water Tower, 9:00)
