The Silent Earth: Juan in a Million

By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Denis Arqueros | Nicolás Klein | Sergio Allard
Starring: Camilia Stuardo | Eusebio Arenas | Florencia Astrorga | Sergio Allard

Country: brazil, chile, united_states

Year: 2013

Running time: 92

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2071490/combined

Jason says: “Alone in the world’ movies offer the independent science fiction filmmaker a fair amount of bang for their buck – you can get by with a very small cast, some unusually still establishing shots taken at the right time, and the sense of unease that comes from empty space where there should be crowds. You’ve got to do a bit more in the way of world-building, though, something THE SILENT EARTH (originally titled JUAN IN A MILLION) puts off until it may be too late.

“As the movie starts, Juan Pablo (Sergio Allard) is recording a video message as part of his application for graduate school at Harvard. He sends it off and hits the sack for a quick nap before going to a friend’s party, but when he finally awakens and goes, the music is playing but the place is empty. Upon further examination, the entire city of Algarrobo, Chile is empty, and while the utilities are running, there’s only static on the TV and radio and nothing new posted on the Internet. Juan is alone, with only a Ronaldo bobble head and strange dreams of his ex-girlfriend Camila (Florencia Astrorga) for company.

“There are a number of directions that one can go with this – there’s a mystery to solve, a struggle for a life-long city dweller to survive, and the possibility of going insane without genuine human contact – and ideally, the filmmaker would be pursuing all three at once. What makes this movie frustrating for a considerable chunk of its length is that Allard (who, in addition to playing Juan, also writes, directs, produces, and edits) doesn’t seriously pursue any of these avenues until fairly late in the game – and even then, his on-screen alter ego seems to fall into it.

“Certainly, some compromises have to be made to accommodate the resources of a small group of filmmakers; it’s probably not feasible for Allard and company to show packs of wolves starting to claim the city as their own, for example. But certain parts of these issues can reinforce each other – the curious resilience of the infrastructure without human maintenance can point to the mystery of where everyone is, for example. Juan’s methodical examination of the city can have results, rather than just seeming to kill time until the surprise midway through. More time can be spent on Juan going nuts rather than just seeming bored on an extended weekend when nobody is around.

“Heck, at one point in the second half of the movie, Allard runs through a sort of alternate version of what’s already happened, and his that five- or ten-minute segment is more intriguing and emotional than all of the total of what has come before. It’s bits like that which really display his potential and that of the movie; Allard does the strange, discombobulating moment well. He and cinematographer Ignacio Walker (with help from the folks in charge of music and sound) also do a decent job of making spaces that should be comfortable to anyone from an urban environment seem off-kilter. And while he may not be the greatest actor, he seems capable enough in both Spanish and English, and has an affable enough screen presence; there are worse people to be stuck with.

“It’s perhaps telling that a pair of airline tickets that show up in the middle of the movie have ‘Oceanic Air’ printed on them; like Lost, this movie does a fair amount of spinning its wheels and setting up a mystery that is too far out to be satisfactorily explained. Allard and his fellow filmmakers perhaps get more out of limited resources than people making a similar film a generation ago would have, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that they should have managed more. 3 cats

“Seen 12 February 2013 in Somerville Theatre #2 (Boston Sci-Fi Fest, video).”