Unraveling the nature of evil has been one of the obsessions that cinema has pursued almost since its inception.. Let's think, as an example, in the famous M, the vampire of dusseldorf, the masterpiece of the Austrian Fritz Lang. With an unforgettable Peter Lorre at the head of the cast, In that film, Lang was not satisfied with constructing a crime story (let us briefly recall the argument: a murderer of girls is loose in the city of Berlin, which causes, incited by institutions, a hunt is organized to stop him), but, among other interpretations, described a specific physical and sociological space: a big city, ya moderna, in which the anonymous subject goes unnoticed among the alienated mass, while I resolve my miseries in dark and discreet solitude.
Manticor, fourth full-length work by Madrid-born Carlos Vermut, introduces us to Julián, a young designer of monstrous creatures for video games. We stand, again, in another big city: Madrid. In a spacious apartment in the center, Julián prepares his creations with a modeling program for which he uses virtual reality glasses. His life passes, So, between the four walls of his studio, some outings with business colleagues and appointments for work meetings. One day, This apparent normality in which he lives is disturbed when he discovers that his neighbors' house is suffering from a massive fire.. and the worst: Inside the house there is a child who does not know how to open the door and escape the flames. Decided, Julián will manage to break down the door and rescue him, later receiving the thanks of his mother and the police for this. But something's not right: that same night, Julián suffers an anxiety attack. A monster has awakened.
Vermut manages to address an already somewhat trite topic from a new and original point of view. Transform limitations into advantages, we could say in reference to the conscious modesty of a production that manages to turn its drawbacks into its main aesthetic and discursive advantage., pouring himself into building a device, in appearance, simple, but very complex in its ambition to investigate the most intimate aspects of the psychology of its characters.. To achieve, Vermouth does not need great effects that emphasize what, in other cases, obvious. That doesn't interest you. What interests you, as it happened in Lang's film, is to enter the daily life of that “monstrous” subject that he portrays to share his daily life with him.. So, after the fire, Julián's life is also disrupted when, at a company farewell party, meet Diana, a girl with whom he starts a relationship. Diana lives a double drama: get over another toxic relationship with another man, while he has to take care of his father, bedridden after suffering a stroke. We will then see Julián and Diana having dinner together, walking through the park, going to the cinema, etc. In these meetings, They share confidences and get to know each other better.. However, Beneath all these situations there is a silent struggle between Julián and a drive that is consuming him inside.. Julián tries to resist that urge., barely liberated when he thinks no one is looking at him.
like in the story, Carlos Vermut leaves clues along the path that he has planted in his brilliant script for the viewer to pick up.. Although this is one of his most “conventional” works in terms of its approach and plot development, as in his previous films, Vermut puts us in front of a specific situation and then adds increasingly more disturbing and disturbing elements., depending on what cases, extravagant, for, as happens in the cinema of a David Lynch, we feel more and more insecure. Vermouth seeks our visual and emotional complicity. To achieve the first, keeps the camera at a certain distance from your character, usually in medium or three-quarter shots, frequently using some architectural line that further separates the target from the scene, as if he were a voyeur who observes what is happening secretly. All of this, (to which we should add lighting that dispenses with radical chiaroscuros, looking for an atmosphere of nuanced lights and colors, and a very discreet work of art), gives us an impression of reality. We identify spaces and situations as the same spaces and situations in which we ourselves operate.. Julián's house could be our house, the spaces where it transits, the same places that we visit every day. The other element lies in the psychological drawing of its main character. So, the Julian who embodies (an extraordinary) Nacho Sánchez is a subject who appears fragile to us in the face of social conventions., a man scared before the ruthless, accelerated and overwhelming outside world (how the Lorre of M?; let's think about those googly eyes). In the face of all this, Julián seems to feel protected within the closed space of his house. Or is he trying to protect us from him??
All these strategies serve Vermut to push us where it really wants to place us.. Faced with the irrepressible and irrational desire, in the face of illness, facing social condemnation, Carlos Vermut tries to show understanding and, why not say it, compassion for his character. Does not seek to justify it, He just wants us to understand and, To do this, brings us closer to your intimacy, so that we know him as we know that lifelong friend about whom we think we know everything. In this sense, Diana's role is essential to understand her speech. Diana represents us. Your look is our look, Their moral responses would also be ours.. However, in a clever final twist, The plot puts us before a mirror that will come to disrupt our entire framework of beliefs.. Or aren't we all so alone and, somehow, as disturbed in our lives as Julian?
If there is something good that digital platforms have, it is that, If you have missed a movie at its premiere, you will always have another chance to see it at any time later. This is what happened to me this week when the Netflix algorithm recommended the documentary to me American factory directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Oscar for best documentary 2020.
The film places us in the city of Dayton, in the state of ohio, USA. In the year 2008, This corner of the empire suffered a shock after the closure of the General Motors factory that left thousands of people without jobs., carrying them, with their families, to a very precarious economic situation, as well as the depression of the entire area. Given this background, the film catapults us to the present of the narrative, per year 2014, when a Chinese businessman decides to take advantage of the abandoned plant facilities to set up a new automobile glass factory. With the opening of the factory, many of those lost jobs will be recovered and people will return to their pre-crisis lives. However, We soon discover that things are not so simple.. With the new address, The new managers of the company bring with them a group of workers from their country who will have to live with the new local employees. Disagreements will soon break out, not so much because of cultural differences, as well as the way the factory work is carried out, between the new bosses and their American subordinates.
It is true that, In recent times, The documentary genre has undergone an evident transformation towards forms that are increasingly removed from television reporting.. However, from time to time, It is very appreciated to return to certain traditional ways, much more ductile, depending on what we're talking about, when presenting certain information. In this sense, the work of Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert is exemplary. With a naturalness that at times amazes us, both directors manage to put their camera in the company kitchen, offering us, not just the details of your daily tasks, but your work meetings, those that involve workers, of course, but also in the case of new employers, that lend themselves to teaching completely harmful situations, we could think, for your interests and your public image.
From here, what he talks about American Factory es, first of all, of the decomposition process and the fragility of the famous “American way of life”. With the closure of the General Motors factory, many of its workers end up losing their social status, falling dramatically, from a middle class, more or less financially comfortable, to a situation that leads them almost to marginality. Especially striking is the story of one of these workers who will end up losing her home to live in a borrowed space in the basement of her sister's home.. With the loss of employment, a feeling of dispossession appears in a country with a high cost of living and where there are no second chances. The cruelty of capitalism is shown, So, in all its rawness. The globalization of globalization and the liberal system leaves the children of the nation unprotected.
But it doesn't end here, well, with the arrival of the new owners, the second cycle of this process begins. With the reopening of the company, people get their jobs back and, with them, It might seem like they're starting to get out of the hole they're in.. We will soon discover that new patterns bring with them new ways of working., as well as new working conditions that will lead workers to new conflicts. Shortly after starting work, employees discover the lack of adequate safety measures and, above all, the low salaries they offer, even earning half of what they earned at General Motors. Accustomed to an almost slave-like discipline and enjoying production costs (in labor price) very poor, the bosses are involved in a war, bringing two clearly irreconcilable traditions into collision. Chinese employees, accustomed to working long hours without vacations, They face a squad that, not only is it poorly prepared, but comes from a long tradition of rights that are expected to be waived.
There are two ways to approach the consequences of a job like American Factory. In a sociological approach, The work of Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert confronts us with two radically different cultures that seek to contrast. And in this case, we might think that the authors are clearly on the side of their own country. and there is something, as we will see. But not everything. Against local customs (the weekend barbecue, the taste for weapons, love for horses), we find another society, China, subdued by party and company discipline. However, seen from a European perspective, This political subjugation by Chinese society may seem so terrible to us., like the blind trust of Americans in a system that leaves them in the gutter at the first opportunity, as the documentary itself shows. Faced with the docile compliance of the Chinese with power, the authors confront the almost childish behavior of their compatriots, what, at a given time, they allow themselves to be entertained with lures more typical of a high school party than of mature people. It is true that the directors insist on pointing out the value of a union culture that they end up praising as a guarantor of fundamental rights.. A red line that is difficult to avoid in the case of the United States, long (and we understand, proud) tradition for the defense of civil rights. Unthinkable, they suggest us, in a communist culture. But the criticism is still there, permeates the entire story.
Now, GOOD, when I think American Factory really takes off is when it alerts us to the dangers of this new turn of globalization. As at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, back in the 19th century., The dispute will focus again on the dilemma between losing your job and, with that, losing our ability to provide ourselves with the most basic goods or a roof over our heads, and subjection to practically slave-like working conditions. And the worst of all is that, in many cases, This sacrifice will not even be rewarded when the new owners of the company begin a second automation process.. Almost two centuries later, we return to the starting box. That's how things are. GERARDO LEON
