By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Julio Hérnandez Cordón
Starring: Fernanda del Nido | Juan de Dios Larraín | Julio Hernández Cordón | Pamela Guinea
Original language title: Polvo
Country: chile, guatemala, italy, spain
Year: 2012
Running time: 80
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2334114/
Bruce says: “As in many South and Central American countries war has ravaged the population and the environment. In Guatemala, it was an unfair war in which the poor people of the country suffered immeasurably. After the war ended women combed the countryside, searching for husbands, brothers, fathers and sons. DUST is the story of such a search. Many sons and daughters of these women grew up without fathers, coping with injustice and the desire for revenge.
“The story is told through the eyes of a photographer hired to help in the search. The structure of the film is awkward. For
example, we see some establishing shots of the photographer at home followed by surreal shots of an old man watching porn and being hit on the head by an intruder. There’s a body in a wheelbarrow. A voice is heard, ‘Juan the baby wet himself again.’ Later we hear, ‘Why is the Mona Lisa so important?’ ‘Three others with the same last names.’ ‘There’s an informer down the street.’ Sex in a Mercedes. Suicide by eating fertilizer. In an attempt to make the film ‘arty’ director Cordón goes overboard in his attempt to grab the viewer’s eye. Granted, the randomness of scenes and nonsensical logic of many characters is representative of the craziness of war. The story of the aftermath of the Guatemalan war is powerful enough to be told without narrative tricks.
“The search begins and the woman who is looking for her husband is determined to continue until some facts are uncovered. The search party does indeed find some wagons to circle. The resolution is not truly satisfying, at least not for this viewer. Nonetheless, I was fascinated by the setting of the story and the upsetting chapter in Guatemalan history about which I know very little. 3 cats
“(DUST screened at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.)”