Historia del miedo - Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film

Year: 2014

History of Fear
(Argentina/France/Germany/Uruguay/Qatar;
79 min)

directed by:
Benjamin Naishtat
starring:
Jonathan Da Rosa; Tatiana Giménez; Mirella Pascual; Claudia
Cantero; Francisco, Lumerman

Kyle says: “HISTORY
OF FEAR is a misleading title, as director Benjamin Naishtat pointed
out before the screening commenced. In Spanish, the word ‘historia’
also means ‘story’ which is closer to his intention in the original
title ‘Historia del miedo’ or ‘Story of Fear.’ A Jane Fonda character
whose husband has just been murdered mentions ‘the illusion of safety’
in a long forgotten Hollywood movie. There are many manifestations of
fear and the illusion of safety in this excellent feature debut by
director Naishtat. The 1% buys every sort of barrier possible to detach
themselves from the 99%, from the services of security guards to fences
to keep out undesirables. The film beings with a gorgeously anamorphic
but unsettling scene of a helicopter overhead barking orders that go
unheeded to people below. Gradually the lush green transmutes into gray
smoke, which is garbage being burnt illegally because there is no other
way to dispose of it. The beauty of the park is being subverted by
other needs.  

“Among the many manifestations of fear in a society gradually
fracturing into tiny fiefdoms is an elevator that stops and starts
seemingly at will, a blaring house alarm that apparently cannot be
turned off, a naked man appearing out of nowhere at a toll booth, a
young boy being pounced upon by two other boys, a security guard’s car
being pelted with globs of mud from all directions, a brilliantly
extended outdoor dinner party which is suddenly plunged into darkness
when the electricity goes off. One of the strengths of the director’s
conception is that not one gun is fired, not one bomb is exploded, and
not one person is killed. We expect all of these to take place every
minute of the running time, so conditioned are we by the mindlessly
mandated violence and death in most American movies. In Buenos Aires,
there are sections of the city where you cannot venture because you are
unfamiliar with the neighborhoods. You become a fearful prisoner of the
very barriers you erect to keep away others, no matter how expensive
the car or how luxurious the gated community. This is an auspicious
debut and an exciting piece of work.   4
cats

“Seen Sunday, March 23, 2014, New Directors/New Films at the Walter
Reade Theater, Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York.”

Historia del miedo

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