By Diego Batley, from Mar del Plata
on 2023-11-07
A story related to the women of the Korean community in Argentina and another to the character of the writer Liliana Bodook was her premiere at this edition of the festival.
A ship carrying me departed from me (Argentina – South Korea / 2023). Director: Cecilia Kang. Screenplay: Virginia Rufo. Cinematographer: Victoria Perida. Edited by: Geraldina Rodríguez. Audio: Francisco Piedmonte. Composer: Delfina Pedro. Producers: Martin Rodriguez Redondo, Cecilia Kang. With Melanie Chung, Hae Kyung-jeon, Alex Chung, Eunice Cho, Maura Lessinghi and Julio Chavez. Duration. 82 minutes. In international competition. ★★★1/2
During the last BAFICI he performed in the international competition Education and nationalism, a film by Hisayo Saika that reconstructed (the official concealment of) the story of Korean women who were abducted by soldiers and turned into sex slaves during the Japanese occupation. In most cases, wianbu or “comfort women” (a euphemism, loaded with irony) hid this humiliation out of shame, but recently this evil practice appeared thanks to numerous investigations.
New Job Manager My last failure He adds to this critical and revisionist view based on the adventures of Melanie Chung, a young acting student of Korean descent living in Buenos Aires who begins to investigate at the time, and was also influenced by the story of her mother, who was a victim of sexual violence for a long time by her then husband.
From Korea to Argentina and now from Argentina to Korea, A ship carrying me departed from me (The title is taken from a verse in Diana Tree, poem by Alejandra Pizarnik) moves from the personal to the ordinary, from the familiar to society and from society to social, political and historical, and also opens up to topics such as the representation of horror, the traditions of her people, brotherhood, the constant temptation to return to the country of her ancestors, the profound differences between generations and the dynamics of a society such as Korean society thousands of kilometers from her homeland. Earth. A sensitive and emotional film, as delicate in its construction as it is heartbreaking in scope.
Lakes (Argentina/2023). Screenplay, editing and direction: Federico Cardone. Cinematographer: Mariano Donoso. Voice: Alejandro Alonso and Martin Chiarbotti. Composer: Andres Cicarelli. Producer: Damaris Rendón and Federico Cardone. With Liliana Bodoc, Rubén Diaz, Roger Aguilera, Sandra Amaya. Duration: 80 minutes. In the Argentine competition. ★★1/2
The starting point of this documenta is the journey of writer Liliana Bodoc and musician Sandra Amaya to a rural school in Mendoza, following in the footsteps of the desert and the hoars. The beginning of the film is charming and encouraging: the wonderful writer communicates with the children by talking about the winds and waters of Zonda, while adults tell her stories such as those of Martina Chabanay, a kind of Robin Hood turned into a folk legend, and the shaman tells her about the lost language of the slaughtered indigenous peoples.
But then the film loses its focus, centerpiece, shawl, and interest. The voiceover is increasingly burdened and with aspirations between lyrical and gloomy, but when it is clarified that Puduk died unexpectedly in 2018, upon returning from a trip to Cuba and in less than 60 years, the stupor that the director himself admits ends with the conquest of the documentary.
Cardone, mixing footage from an old film about motorcycle racers and Nicolino Luque’s battles, talks about an earthquake that devastated the region and about Spanish missionary Pedro de Valdivia, shows how lightning burns trees, films his children in Super 8 (wondering what legacy and the world he will leave them) and talks about his divorce. There are many of those parts that, analyzed independently and independently, have their interest, but tinkering, puzzle, accumulation and mixing leave a slightly confusing and frustrating feeling.
Subscriptions are the best way for readers to directly support and help maintain freelance journalism projects A quality product that keeps access to all your content for free. In addition, you get access to a wide range of benefits and exclusive content.
