There's many comparisons to be made with 7 Cajas (2012), from the same directing/producing team. Let's skip them, although I just want to personally add that this movie is better looking and a little more twee-free.
It's also very nice to see that Schémbori and Maneglia understood what made 7 Cajas stand above other attempts at mainstream cinema in Paraguay: the acting. Paraguayan media has a terrible problem of relying on theater actors. The overacting needed on the stage bothers at the big screen. So to break free this time they cast a troupe of new, fresh actors, with varied results.
But OK, let's stick to the current film. Set in one of the poorest Asuncion's neighborhoods, which tends to suffer river floods every year, there lives our main hero with his family of mother, baby brother and grandparents. The abuelo (played superbly by Jesús Pérez) used to be a treasure hunter until he fell to a stroke just before finding the big one. From the clues left by him a plot worthy of Disney's National Treasure begins-- of course with the same humor and quirks a Paraguayan story would display: crime, deceit, connivance and LOTS of Guarani language.
The movie falls short from epic like its predecessor by keeping it tight-framed into few locations, showing that the most interesting of Asuncion is the people living in there. Photography deserves a great deal of praise, making great use of both natural and setup lighting. The acting... well, it's still a little affected, only fresher. Special mention goes to Leticia Panambi Sosa, doing a great work at being just close to over-the-top villainess without crossing over into ham. Other members of the cast are kinda rough-over- the-edges but still funny when needed to be.
To escape financial hardship a group of very Paraguayan characters has to find a 147 years lost cache of gold. Will you -the viewer- find gold in this movie? I did.
It's also very nice to see that Schémbori and Maneglia understood what made 7 Cajas stand above other attempts at mainstream cinema in Paraguay: the acting. Paraguayan media has a terrible problem of relying on theater actors. The overacting needed on the stage bothers at the big screen. So to break free this time they cast a troupe of new, fresh actors, with varied results.
But OK, let's stick to the current film. Set in one of the poorest Asuncion's neighborhoods, which tends to suffer river floods every year, there lives our main hero with his family of mother, baby brother and grandparents. The abuelo (played superbly by Jesús Pérez) used to be a treasure hunter until he fell to a stroke just before finding the big one. From the clues left by him a plot worthy of Disney's National Treasure begins-- of course with the same humor and quirks a Paraguayan story would display: crime, deceit, connivance and LOTS of Guarani language.
The movie falls short from epic like its predecessor by keeping it tight-framed into few locations, showing that the most interesting of Asuncion is the people living in there. Photography deserves a great deal of praise, making great use of both natural and setup lighting. The acting... well, it's still a little affected, only fresher. Special mention goes to Leticia Panambi Sosa, doing a great work at being just close to over-the-top villainess without crossing over into ham. Other members of the cast are kinda rough-over- the-edges but still funny when needed to be.
To escape financial hardship a group of very Paraguayan characters has to find a 147 years lost cache of gold. Will you -the viewer- find gold in this movie? I did.
