Gonzalo Arijon: Stranded
I don’t need to write a lot about this film, do I? The winner of IDFA 2007, screened and awarded at an enormous amount of festivals, broadcast all over, including in Denmark. A well constructed dramatic story with a wonderful panel of survivors from the air crash in the Andes in 1972. Good tellers they are and…
… what I wanted to draw your attention to, first of all, is the way the film reconstructs. In a non-bombastic sketchy manner, where the right balance is found and the facial similarities to the found archive photos of survivors are quite obvious.
The second potential inspiration for filmmaking colleagues could be the talking faces that certainly have been and still is subject to general discussions about to use or not to use. Look at the middle aged men and hear them talk naturally and not only in one sentence lines. There are many characters but we get to know them because we are invited to watch their interesting facial expressions.
I still think the film is too long and gründlich but the story is fantastic and the craft skills of the Uruguayan and Argentinian film makers are admirable.
France, 2007, 127 mins.
www.idfa.nl (about the film at IDFA 2007)
http://www.arteboutique.com/detailProduct.action?attributeId=1&vlhId=437946&moveValue=6&product.id=274469 (dvd version with English subtitles can be bought via this site, around 20€)
