Elipsis (2006)

Finally something different and bold comes from South America. Elipsis is a puzzle that once you start playing with it, you want to complete it to see the big picture. This is a phenomenal feature debut from Arias-Nath whom I congratulate all the way from Mexico for taking such a big risk and offering a new voice to the film world. In addition to Arias-Nath's lyrical and comfortable direction, kudos must be given to the DP and the Art Director as well. I must say I also enjoyed the score very much. The colors are vibrant in this picture, contrasting the dark places the characters visit. Very cool. Edgar Ramirez (who's about to pop in Hollywood with The Bourne Ultimatum) does an amazing job in this film. Especially at the end, which unfortunately I can't reveal because if not, I will be giving out spoilers for no reason. The other lead, Erich Wildpret, is simply amazing. This actor has a bright future. The rest of the cast was very enjoyable, with Seu Jorge at the top of the list. What a presence this guy has. From Mexico I salute Arias-Nath and his hard-working team for revamping the Venezuelan cinema that is in desperate need of a face-lift. Great film. I want to see what Arias-Nath is working on next.

Don't waste your time on this one. Clever advertising and $$$ couldn't save this from being one of the biggest flops in the history of Venezuelan cinema. It has a weak script, bad acting and although it was beautifully filmed on HD, the movie looks like a Tide commercial. I gave it two stars just because Seu Jorge is in the movie. I find it incredible that people rate this with 10 stars. Is this really the best movie you have seen? Now I understand why Venezuelan cinema can be so mediocre, the lack of self criticism is incredible..... I f you want to see good Venezuelan films, watch El pez que fuma and Araya. Stay away from the rest.

The plot of the film is weak, relying on visuals to compensate for the lack of substance but there is an AMAZING performance by an actor named "Erich Wilfred". He completely carries the film and is the only thing worth mentioning. MY 10 STAR RATING GOES TO HIM. The editing of the film also lacks language; leaving the audience with the all too familiar taste of a story untold. One thing is to leave expectations unattended and another to have structural flaws. In my opinion the attempt does not meet its goal. But again, if you want to see an outstanding actor giving a marvelous performance, with less than ordinary material, you have to see this film.

We all have seen a lot of movies which get you thinking "if only they have done this or that, if only this actor had done his job..." and so on. I have to say that in this one, my first thought was "This is a great work, for a 3rd semester student". The visuals, the interesting changes between shots, the sets, almost everything but the story and the acting made me think of an unexperienced director and though they are not very convincing -have you ever seen news interviews with no signs all over the screen????- they did show me the will of accomplishing a good job, only fell short in many cases. The acting has, with the noticeably exception of the drug dealer and the gallery curator, the worst part in this movie. Although in a number of scenes you can see convincing acting, all the top-model-looking women have no good parts to do something with them, nor seem to be able to act at all. They convinced me they are top models, and were given this job by their agents, and brought all their own make-up to their scenes. Sad. It is a brave and heroic deed to make a motion picture with small budgets, poor distribution, and a number of challenges that have nothing to do with the actual making of the movie. Usually I think one has to believe sincerely in your own work to get past all that. Having that in mind, the whole story, and all the "twists" at the end, seem to me a slim reason to go through all the process. If you are curious or have the time, or if something of this movie appeals to you, go and see it... but I wouldn't recommend it. 4/10