July 22, 2008
The Exile
Reviewer: Maria Komodore
Rating (out of 5): ****
Made in 1991, The Exile (La Frontera) marks Chilean director Ricardo Larraín's first attempt at feature filmmaking, a debut so impressive that when it was screened at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1992 it won the Silver Berlin Bear for outstanding first film.
The story revolves around a math teacher from Santiago, Ramiro Orellana (wonderfully played by Patricio Contreras, Sexo con amor), who's sent to internal exile in a secluded part of Chile for signing a petition regarding the abduction of a colleague. There he meets a group of peculiar people who have been trying to rebuild their lives after a big flood devestated the village and caused many casualties. While two of the locals harass Ramiro, making him report to them several times throughout the day, he forms a special bond with Maite (Gloria Laso) a middle aged woman who, having lost her child and husband in the flood, has dedicated herself to taking care of her senile father.
Employing a wide camera lens that discreetly distorts images, and both saturated and burnt out photography, cinematographer Hector Rios creates beautiful imagery that celebrates nature but also adequately conveys the sadness that permeates the lives of the characters.
Profoundly allegorical, The Exile comments on the effects that General Augusto Pinochet's harsh and messy 17-year-long dictatorship had on Chile, and it does so with the same amount of mastery that Hungarian filmmaker éla Tarr exhibits while relating his country's efforts to recover from its Communist past.
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