By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Maite Alberdi
Country: chile
Year: 2020
Running time: 84
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11394298/reference
Thom says: “This is Chile’s entry into the 2021 Best Foreign Film competition for the Academy Awards (that hoary, old extravaganza). Moreover, the film is my choice for Best Documentary for 2020. I have to honestly admit I’m not a huge fan of documentaries, and it is a rare one that receives my top rating, but here we go. When I initiating my viewing of the film I thought I remembered it was labelled a documentary, but some 20 minutes into it I was convinced it was a fiction film so after the film completed I was quite surprised to learn it actually was a documentary, and so amazing at that.
“A private detective holds a casting call for a peculiar assignment. His client suspects elder abuse at the nursing home where her mother resides. The applicants all represent amusing aspects of elderly attitude, but the winning candidate is an unassuming charmer, the unforgettable Sergio Chamy. He’s dapper, sincere, friendly, inquisitive, loving, & unforgettable. His task is to get admitted to the nursing home and ingratiate himself with the staff and all the ‘inmates’ of the nursing home while wearing a wire and being photographed. Apparently the facility must have been in on the ‘scam’ because I was totally convinced that the proceedings were fiction. Sergio is such a handsome, thoughtful, & charming find that many of the unsuspecting elderly ladies fall quite heavily for the ‘available’ fellow. Eventually he discovers no significant abuse. But what came across to me, very probably because of my advancing years, was a deep understanding and appreciation for the problems of the elderly, especially those living in facilities, where they actually receive some kind of help. Many of them have individual either mental or health problems that have to be addressed by Sergio and with his shining demeanor & attitude I got closer to their problems as well. So while many of these people are close to the end of their lives I was able to get a life-affirming feeling from their stories. 5 cats“