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Directed by Kiro Russo
Viejo calavera
An atmospheric, bleak mystery.
Elder Mamaní’s father has died, and it looks as if young Elder couldn’t care less, even though he has no one to take care of him now. He goes to live with his grandmother in the outskirts of the mining city, Huanuni, where Francisco, his godfather, gives him a job at the mine. But it doesn’t take long for Elder, who cares more about getting high and wandering through dangerous alleys at night, to mess it up. But he soon finds out about a dark secret regarding Francisco’s involvement in his father’s death…
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Elder Mamani es la vagancia personificada.En Viejo Calavera Kiro Russo nos muestra las vivencias de los mineros de Huanuni de manera extraordinaria con una fotografía que pone al cine boliviano de nuevo en el mapa. También se puede ver como una crítica al nepotismo, pero tengo mucha fiaca para desarrollar.Ojo con Kiro Russo, hay que estar atentos a su próxima película.
Ich sehe zwar viele ziemlich gekonnte und coole nur von Helmlampen ausgeleuchtete Shots aus rückständigen, bolivianischen Bergwerken, aber die zwischen geisterhafter Naturmystik und stumpfem Drogenkonsum wechselnden Szenen wollten bei mir keinen zielführenden bzw. wahrscheinlich sozialkritischen Plot ergeben. Vielleicht hatte ich aber auch einfach nicht genug Kokablätter in der Backe.
From its plot synopsis one might expect this drama set in Bolivian coal mines to bear similarities to Black Coal, Thin Ice. It’s less a sustained noir exercise, though, than a demo reel for first-time feature filmmaker Kiro Russo. In it, an irresponsible young man takes a job in a coal mine after his father’s mysterious death. The film charts his uneasy integration into a community of miners in a manner that at times is self-consciously arty. There’s a disco scene that recalls Jia, Tarkovksian drifting camerawork, a montage of mining work that utilizes Eisensteinian close-ups and superimpositions and several long, confessional tales of poverty that could have come out of a Costa film. These sequences feel like Russo’s attempts to locate his own style, but they don’t cohere into a complete vision. The best moments are the most specific, depicting life in the mines by exploiting digital photography’s ability to capture dark spaces. Dark Skull makes Russo’s ambition clear, even if one doesn’t have a clear sense of his talent after it’s over.47/100
It follows a young man who struggles to find his way in a remote Bolivian mining town while haunted by the mysterious death of his father.
The film was directed by Kiro Russo, a Bolivian filmmaker known for his distinctive, atmospheric style that often blends documentary elements with fiction.
The film received significant festival acclaim, including the Special Jury Prize at the 69th Locarno Film Festival.
