Parabellum

Today, March 2 at Cinequest

by
THE MEMORY OF WATER
THE MEMORY OF WATER

It’s World Cinema day at Cinequest, as the fest rolls out its strongest foreign films. Here are my picks:

  • The Memory of Water: This Chilean drama explores grief, its process and its impact and might just be most masterful filmmaking achievement at Cinequest 2016. Exquisite.
  • Demimonde: Sex, intrigue and murder in this operatic Hungarian period drama. U.S. Premiere.
  • Fever at Dawn: Urgent period romance between Holocaust survivors, with an unexpected nugget at the end.
  • Parabellum: This absurdist and trippy Argentine drama is set in a pre-apocalyptic near future; clearly everyone should be panicking, but no one is.

Bookmark my Cinequest 2016 page, with links to all my coverage. Follow me on Twitter for the latest.

DEMIMONDE
DEMIMONDE

Cinequest: PARABELLUM

by
PARABELLUM
PARABELLUM

The Argentine drama Parabellum is a trippy movie unlike anything that you’ve seen.  Set in a pre-apocalyptic near future, cities are crumbling into disorder and meteors are plunging into the Earth with alarmingly increased frequency.  Clearly everyone should be panicking, but no one is.

Instead, the characters in Parabellum don blindfolds and are motored up a jungle river to a secret adventure resort where they learn survivalist skills – kind of Camp Heart of Darkness.  The most life-and-death exercises are addressed matter-of-factly, with an absurdly calm determination that makes Parabellum seem like something out of Buñuel.

Parabellum’s measured pace seems so at odds with the impending disaster (whatever it will be), that it’s part of the joke.  What the hell is going on and what are these people thinking?  Beautifully shot, engrossing and witty – Parabellum is a wacky treat.