By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Gonzalo Justiniano
Starring: Eduardo Barril | Juan Falcón | Manuela Martelli | Ricardo Fernandez | Sergio Hernández
Country: chile, spain, venezuela
Year: 2004
Running time: 90
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379176/combined
Bruce says: “Kathy (Manuela Martelli) is fourteen. Her father (Eduardo Barril) is in prison, her mother (Lorene Prieto) is giving in to the sexual demands of her employer to keep her job and make ends meet, and her brother (Felipe Rios) is staying out late drinking and is mostly dysfunctional during the day. Her father comes home for a night of lovemaking upon his release from prison then promptly returns to his life of crime. He brings lavish gifts home to Kathy, her mother and brother. No one is fooled especially the local police who come to the house looking for him on the night of Kathy’s fifteenth birthday party.
“When the police raid her birthday party everyone scrambles out the door. One policeman stays behind and blows out the birthday candles with such fervor one would have though he was the birthday boy. The policemen then help themselves to birthday cake. One has the gall to enter Kathy’s bedroom while eating her cake. Kathy tells him to get out. Justiniano handles this with a comic touch that is welcome in an otherwise grim story.
“Her father then disappears, her mother dies a sudden death and her brother runs off with his male lover. At the age of fifteen she is totally alone. When she goes to inquire about her father at the prison, she is incarcerated herself without cause. She manages to escape. It is not surprising that she ends up in Valparaiso working the streets as a prostitute shortly thereafter.
“This teenager sees things as they are and has no delusions. She has seen her mother in the throes of sexual activity both at home and at the store. When she meets Chemo, (Ricardo Fernandez) a new boy at school, she seduces him having decided that it is with him she wants to lose her virginity. Kathy begins by asking Chemo to take his shirt off, then his pants. She orders him to lie down then she strips and joins him gently on the bed. No doubt as to who is in control here. This scene, which could have been maudlin or silly, is beautiful and expertly handled by the director.
“My least favourite aspect of this film was her repeating a long mantra beginning with ‘I’m afraid of nothing…’ It is designed to show us that tragic events have conditioned her to the tough world she must face. The flaw of the film is that Kathy shows little emotion at any point. She never cries; she doesn’t get angry the way one would expect; and she rarely smiles. She’s been conditioned this way since birth.
“The acting is superb and the casting deserves praise. Every character was memorable.” 4 cats
This film is part of the 2004 New Directors/New Films series.