Sundance's Grand Jury Prize winners: "Padre Nuestro" and "Manda Bala"

By Steve Ramos

Good ambiguity is a film that enthralls audiences and yet, manages to give a variety of pleasures. That’s “Padre Nuestro,” a wonderful Spanish-language debut from writer/director Christopher Zalla and arguably the best dramatic feature I’ve watched so far at the festival. My initial response would be to call “Padre Nuestro” an immigration drama, one grittier and a notch more tragic than the recent Sundance movie “Maria Full of Grace.” (Editor’s note: These reviews appeared originally in indieWIRE on Jan. 23rd and 21st, respectively. Steve Ramos is Steve Ramos is an award-winning film writer based in Cincinnati, Ohio. When not on assignment, he maintains the blog Flyover Online. Complete indieWIRE reviews of Sundance American independent and documentary competition films can be found at indieWIRE’s special “Park City” section.)

Pedro (Jorge Adrian Espindola) is a young Mexican who travels to New York City with a group of other illegal immigrants under grueling conditions. He has a letter and locket from his deceased mother and the home address to Diego (Jesus Ochoa), the father he’s never met. Pedro befriends Juan (Armando Hernandez), another young man searching for a new, better life in America. But Juan has stolen Pedro’s letter and the race to contact Diego is underway, between his real son and a dangerous con-man.

“Padre Nuestro” captures the Latino street life of New York City equally vibrant to the way Carlos Reygadas (“Battle in Heaven”) captures Mexico City. cinematographer Igor Martinovic’s dark colors are a perfect match to the sad circumstances of its heroic voyager. The stark New York City locations, from a cramped restaurant kitchen to a Latino dime-a-dance club, all contribute to the film’s artful shine.

But the engine that powers “Padre Nuestro’s” beautiful photography, authentic characters and Spanish dialogue is a gripping journey more exciting, violent and suspenseful than any ordinary immigrant story.

Jesus Ochoa, a mountain of man whose stubbly chin reflects his prickly personality, is the emotional rock that supports “Padre Nuestro.” In his large hands and authoritative personality, one understands the strengths necessary to scratch out a living in a new country, one where you don’t speak the language. Jorge Adrian Espindola, recognizable for his role in “The Three Burials of Melquiades,” is a hero one can love. He’s handsome, charismatic, a believable innocent. You want Pedro to succeed no matter how many bad mistakes he makes. Paola Mendoza, as a drug addict who helps Pedro, captures the grit and bitterness of a life-turned-bad.

But it’s Armando Hernandez who rises above his talented co-stars and gives a performance every bit as rich and complex as the film. Juan is a villain, a thief intent on robbing Diego of the money he keeps hidden. Yet, despite his bad deeds, Hernandez hints at the humanity that lies beneath his lies. Juan is a man desperate to survive. More importantly, he appears to be a man capable of redemption. It’s a plot point that clearly comes from Zalla’s unforgiving script but it’s Hernandez’s performance that makes us believe it’s possible.

“Manda Bala”

Much attention is being made over first-time feature filmmaker Jason Kohn’s apprenticeship with documentary master Errol Morris but the twenty-something director deserves unshared acclaim for his bright, beautiful and utterly engrossing omnibus film “Manda Bala” (translated from Portuguese to “Send a Bullet”) Like the multiple storyline in Morris’ landmark film “Fast, Cheap and Out of Control,” Kohn spends time with a variety of Brazilians, rich and poor, good and bad, city dwellers and rural dwellers. He does this in order to capture the spirit of contemporary Brazil and make the powerful case that increasing violence and political corruption sum up the South American nation today.

Subjects in front of Kohn’s camera include owners of a rural frog farm caught up in money laundering, a female kidnapping victim who recounts her torture, a Sao Paulo businessman who spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on his personal safety, a wealthy plastic surgeon, the police detectives who struggle to keep the wealthy safe and a vicious criminal who makes them his targets.

“Manda Bala” is spider web moviemaking in the spirit of a Samba dance but it’s to Kohn’s credit, as well as his editors Doug Abel, Andy Grieve and Jenny Golden, that everything connects with crystal clarity. Cinematographer Heloisa Passos makes everything beautiful, no matter how squalid the surroundings. “Manda Bala’s” standout images are its scenes of vast economic disparity, a gleaming modern, high-rise apartment building standing at the edge of a filthy shanty village.

As is often the case with film smorgasbords, some of the players shine brighter than others. An interview with a leading Brazilian politician may be the coup of “Manda Bala” but the most emotional moments come from a criminal leader who disperses his ill-gotten cash like some Robin Hood of the Sao Paulo slums.

Like another Sundance documentary, the global warming film “Everything’s Cool,” Kohn tells his Brazilian story with a sense of playfulness. What puts Kohn’s film a notch above, and arguably the best documentary I’ve watched so far, is that the humor serves its humanistic theme, that violence can become a nation’s main culture industry and tie a diverse population together with sometimes tragic results.

Sixty-fiive years ago, Orson Welles traveled to Brazil to make his film “It’s All True,” an unfinished but fascinating look at Carnival. Kohn pays homage to Welles with “Manda Bala,” an effort every bit as spectacular as that long-ago movie. Sure, current opinions on Welles vary, but for a debut filmmaker making his first splash, I can’t imagine a better comparison.

01.29.2007