Escape from conquering k search Politicians urge people to kneel, finding in this position undeniable advantages over lying down or vertical straightening at full height; the president-frog cheerfully proclaims – swim and dive (in the flooded feces, almost post-apocalyptic Buenos Aires); a rebel wanders through the dilapidated urban landscapes, carrying a huge beating drum of its own accord – there is a noise war against the lying and hypocritical authorities who have already managed to put flippers and kneel. All this, but not only – the film by Fernando Solanos “Journey” (El viaje, 1992).
Having stumbled upon this film quite by accident (I wanted to make a list of the best road movies seen and see what I had not seen before), I could not expect that I would see inside a thing that quite significantly transforms the essence of “road cinema”, while managing to be at the same time the same film “about the path”, and absurd tragicomedy, and a rather harsh historical satire. We can say that Solanos in this film uses all the advantages of the so beloved “road” cinema and reveals them from unexpected sides.
These films are both easy and very difficult to write about. First, in my opinion, about the "Journey", the history of its creation, about historical references in the film can be written at least a dozen scientific articles. And secondly, despite the fact that on the one hand it is quite tied to the entire historical context of the film, it carries some universal recognizable images and stories. A little in order and a little more in detail.
The place of action (at least its beginning) is Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, Latin America. The main character, in turn, calls the place where the journey will begin, only as “the ass of the world”, which is unpretentiously listed in the subtitles for the film. The surreal setting in which one of the stages of Martin Nunk's growing up lasts has its explanation in "the reality of a continent attacked by foreign debt, political corruption, environmental destruction and famine" (the film's director's letter to audiences on the eve of the premiere). And here is an important digression: one of the things that I learned while watching is that there is a kind of similarity, a generality of a movie that is filmed in transitional, critical or tragic moments for society. For example, you can recall Karen Shakhnazarov’s film “City of Zero” in 1988, in which the sometimes repulsive absurdity of action clearly (sometimes too) echoes the life of the country at that time; I also remembered Sergei Solovyov’s rather beloved trilogy (“Assa”, “Black Rose – an emblem of sadness ...”, “House under a starry sky”), also from the late 80s – early 90s. It’s about the fact that despite the real story of a particular country that is allegorically played out in “Journey” and which you can understand and understand, there is something international about this film even at this level.
- What's your name?
- Inconcluso.
- Amerigo Inconcluso?
- Of course he's the one who runs this ship.
- My father made you up! Nicholas Nunca.
- I've never seen him. Perhaps it was not your father who invented me, but I invented him.
The journey in this case takes place not so much in the escape of the hero from failed love and terrible phantasmagoric conditions of life on his edge of the world. In my view, there is an escape from the brutal and often deadly post-colonial conditions that have gripped Argentina — as have many other regions that have been “lucky” to be open in such a conquering way. By the way, the release of this film was timed to the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus (1492). I think one of the thoughts of the director is that even though five centuries later no one is exchanging people for bananas (although I wouldn’t be surprised if there are examples), the kind of conquest continues. And Martin Nunk’s journey in search of his father is also an escape from this conquest, an attempt to find – or perhaps regain – a normal and dignified way of life.
This film seemed to me rather little-known, based on the fact that it is extremely difficult to find on the Internet, and any materials about it are either on old hard-to-read sites, or fragmentary exist on services for evaluating films on which there are practically no reviews about “Journey”. It's even weird that it was pretty easy to spot a soundtrack that's just amazing. A two-hour tape without a great full-hd, in the process of working on which the director was wounded in some political attack - it is complex and simple at the same time. In this journey fits as crazy grotesque in the service of ethical prosecution of corruption and lies (“Swim and dive in this water!”), and light sadness in search of lost. Too much to explain in a simple review, and whether or not. It seems to me that one can imagine a waking dream in which Odysseus yearns for home, Careless rider travels around America and does not find it, someone travels around Russia and will not reach the end. I think it will be something similar.
Mi viaje es soledad (My journey is solitude)
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