By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.25
Director: John Malkovich
Starring: Elvira Mínguez | Javier Bardem | Juan Diego Botto | Laura Morante
Country: spain, united_states
Year: 2003
Running time: 133
IMDB: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0108425
Esmé says: “I thought Javier Bardem was great in this. I really liked this movie, the story, the filming, the understated way Malkovich showed us the lifestyle of the characters. The tension, the revelation, awesome! (A terrorist group is threatening the capital of an unknown Latin American country. Detective Rejas is a cop trying to investigate while dealing with corrupt superiors).
Georgette says: “THE DANCER UPSTAIRS is the much anticipated first film directed by John Malkovich and starring Javier Bardem (BEFORE NIGHT FALLS, JAMÓN JAMÓN). It is set in an unnamed Latin American country that is dealing with terrorist attacks. Augustin Rejas (Bardem) is a policeman who has spent years trying to catch the elusive terrorist, Ezequiel. Although Rejas is now a policeman, he was a lawyer who left the practice of law to find true justice. But his real dream was always to be a coffee farmer.
Rejas is married and has a daughter, who is his real love. One day he meets his daughter’s ballet teacher, and there is an attraction.
Martial law is declared, which makes the search for clues more difficult as the military steps in and takes over. And you can pretty much guess what happens, despite a few twists and turns.
I thought that Malkovich was impressive in his first outing as a director. There were some scenes that were just gorgeous, such as a scene at the beginning. We see a pure white mountain in a landscape, and then again reflected in a window, through which we see Rejas in the dark talking on the phone. This and a few other scenes had me wondering how on earth the cinematographer managed the stark contrast of light and dark and still get a candle-like glow on the characters faces. Nicely done.
Another scene was really just a transition scene as Rejas packs his belongings. Without giving a lot of attention to what he is packing, the books tell much about his character: The Destruction of Democracies (not the exact title), another similar book, and To Kill a Mockingbird.
A scene that will stay with me for a long time is the final scene where he is watching his daughter’s ballet recital. Again, he is on the other side of a window It is beautifully lit, shot, and the song is Nina Simone’s ‘Who Knows Where the Time Goes.’ Fabulous. This simple scene went on for a few minutes, and I was sorry to see it end. But it did make me wish that more time was spent on the father/daughter relationship rather than the infatuation with the teacher.
This film, as in JAPÓN, has much animal cruelty. Dead dogs are hung with meat hooks from lamp posts. Chickens are tied with dynamite and then thrown into crowds. I knows that the horror of terrorist attacks was important to the story line. My objection was the prolonged close up views of the dead dogs. Yes it was horrible, but it only takes a few seconds of that to make the point.
Although there were some weak spots, overall the movie works, due in large part to Javier Bardem. His performance was quiet, yet powerful. He was a perfect choice for this role.
Despite the dead dogs, I give this one 3 1/2 cats
Ivy says: “I finally watched this film last night. When it came out I wanted to see it because I love Javier Bardem but was put off by the trailer – so stupid! – and the fact that John Malcovich directed it. The combination looked deadly.
“It is really quite an impressive first feature. Not because it’s a brilliant film or anything but more because it’s quite a political film in Hollywood terms – shot in Portugal, Spain, and Ecuador using a crew that was primarily local – at least all of the names looked very latin oriented – with Spanish actors. Although most of the film was in English, it was a heavily accented English. I did wish a bit that it was in Spanish but my guess is that not everyone natively spoke the same kind of Spanish and having everyone speak
English was a good way to mask any different accents they might have.
“The plot follows Bardem’s police officer as he moves from border patrolman to the chief of terrorist investigations. He is a former lawyer who became disillusioned with the law in his corrupt government and wanted to actually be able to protect justice. A revolution is quietly starting to rise following an unknown ‘Ezekial’ who is supervising random acts of violence. Bardem’s character is trying to figure out who he is before the corrupt military does.
“It’s an interesting perspective on Latin American politics on many levels, shows a different struggle within those countries. It is an engrossing mystery/thriller – one of my favorite genres. I would recommend it!”
Laura says: “John Malkovich exhibits a European sensibility in his directorial debut set in an anonymous South American country. The John Le Carre-influenced Nicholas Shakespeare adapted his novel for the screen and while it works as a character study, the love story seems to spring out of nowhere and he saddles Rejas with an entirely implausible wife to support it, without providing their back story.
“Introduced in a flashback as a border guard in a remote mountainous area, former lawyer Rejas is struggling to prove himself as a detective in the capital city within the confines of a corrupt government. He has loyalty from his junior partner Sucre (Juan Diego Botto, providing the film’s few bits of comic relief) and female colleague Llosa (Elvira Minguez), but is receiving serious pressure from higher ups. He spends his days witnessing horrific poverty and revolutionary terror and his evenings in his modest home watching TV and listening to his wife prattle on about selling cosmetics. When his wife asks him to pick up his daughter at her dance class, Rejas meets Yolanda (Laura Morante, THE SON’S ROOM), her instructor, and soon he is meeting her again outside the studio. When the strands of Rejas’s life become entangled, he’ll lose some of his soul to the dancer he desires.
“Malkovich cast both Bardem and Morante in their first English language roles because he likes the sound of English being spoken with an accent. His gambit paid off, particularly with Bardem who delivers a fine, restrained performance as an honest man working for the morally corrupt. Morante is quiet and thoughtful, clearly a more intellectual equal for Rejas, but the pairing is more melancholy than romantic. The feeling of loss is necessary, but Bardem and Morante generate no real heat.
“Malkovich employs cool tones to his film about oppression in an unnamed place, with editor Mario Battistel effectively intercutting action and composer Alberto Iglesias adding South American flavor. THE DANCER UPSTAIRS gets at the heart of a man existing amidst turmoil, but while it convinces us that that heart has broken for a country, it doesn’t convince at the more personal, romantic level.” 3 cats