CWC D: Víctor Gaviria. Colombia. 116 min. September 18, 3:30 pm, Scotiabank 9. Rating: NNN
Director Gaviria has been unsparing in his portraits of his hometown, the city of Medellín, having portrayed its vicious drug trade and crushing poverty in previous films. He continues to shed light on its shantytown’s brutality in this story of Amparo (Natalia Polo), a young girl who’s kidnapped and forced to marry a man called The Animal (Tito Alexander Gómez).
It’s hard to watch, for sure, but worth it to keep your eyes open for two reasons. First, Gaviria’s actors, many of them non-professionals, are exceptional, especially Polo, who finds myriad ways of expressing terror and resolve.
But don’t be fooled by those touting it as a film about female empowerment. Amparo is resourceful, but this is a really a story about cowed villagers, including women, who know full well that Amparo’s enslaved and do nothing.
It’s sickeningly powerful.
