Un oso rojo (2002) Reviews

• Beer and cigarettes

  jotix1002004-12-21

  This film, to the best of my knowledge, has not had a commercial run in this country. It's director, Adrian Caetano, shows he can do a lot, with a little budget. He has decided to show a seamy part of life among Argentine poorer classes. At the center of the story we have an ex-con who has just been released from prison after killing a cop in a botched robbery. He has come back to a non existing family since his wife is now living with another man. His daughter, who was a year old when he was incarcerated doesn't even know him. It is to this world that Oso returns. He wants to be paid the money that his old boss, Turco, owes him, without any luck. He also wants to know his daughter, Alicia, who slowly begins to respond to him. He also would like to have Natalia back, without any success. Oso is doomed from the beginning; his attempts to find a job and go straight hit a snag when he is offered to participate in a robbery by Turco. At the center of almost every frame of the film we watch Oso's face. Mr. Chavez registers all of Oso's emotions clearly. We see this man that has been hardened by his life in prison going through a new reality in his life. He is a desperate man in search of revenge. The end of the film is ironic, at best, because we realize that Oso, deep down inside, is a man that has reconciled himself with the new situation in his life. Julio Chavez gives a nuanced performance as Oso. He is a man that projects an animalistic force, even when he is not doing anything. Soledad Villamil, as Natalia, Oso's former wife, is good also. Luis Machin, Rene Lavand, and above all, young Agostina Lage, are perfect in their roles. Not having seen anything by Adrian Caetano, this film served as an introduction to his work and we look forward for more of his movies because he shows he can deliver.

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• A poetic urban western

  abisio2003-05-26

  If this movie reminds you of `UNFORGIVEN', you are not wrong. The main difference is while that was set one hundred and fifty years in the past; this one is the present of many people in South America. Oso (Bear), the nickname of a big and not particularly friendly guy, is released from prison after ten years. He was arrested, on his daughter's first birthday, committing a robbery where he killed a policeman. His only desires are to reencounter his daughter and collect his share of the robbery, his ex-boss `El Turco' never paid to his family. Of course, the money and his family does not exist anymore. After such time, his wife got another man and his daughter is unaware of his existence. And his boss expend the money. For several reasons, he accepts another robbery organized by `El Turco'. Betrayal and death will follow. Oso (as portrayed by the exceptional Argentinean actor Julio Chavez) a man is that knows hell and is used to it. He is a physical person, violent and not very fond of words. His face is tough and terrifying. The kind of guy you will (and must run away) if you ever cross with him. Aside from Chavez, Soledad Villamil as his wife, Luis Machin as the boyfriend and particulary Agostina Lage as the daughter are superb. However, as many wild animals (and Oso is really wild) he will protect his siblings even if he has to kill for that. He has nothing else to loose, no future, and no fear or remorse. As I said, he has no future but he did not surrender either. Caetano, never tries to make the character lovable. In one scene he steals from a peasant who refuses to give him money; in another, he beats his wife boyfriend (a poor guy who lost his job and is trying to make a few bucks gambling) because he thinks is bad for his daughter (coming from an unrepentant criminal and killer doesn't look very moralizing). Oso is the real thing Tom Hanks tried and fail to do in `Road to Perdition'. In one scene with his daughter, she talks about things he does not care or understand, but his face or mask shows a huge effort to reach or communicate with her even when both worlds are impossible to mix. Aside from the simple story, there is the incredible and moving background of the South American (Argentina in this case) poverty. There are no fancy houses here, walls are not painted or even finished. Mate is the drink or beer (in South America is cheaper that colas) and the houses are so small that one must stand for the other to pass. The catch here is that all those losers and criminals, are product of social situation of jobless families trying to survive in any way they can. So when the movie ends, do not expect the moral redempting American ending. Here, people keep the money even if it was not obtained honestly, because is they only way to survive.

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• A powerful piece

  jpschapira2005-03-30

  It's the first time I'm going to talk about an Argentinean movie, and I want to make it right. Adrian Caetano comes from the group of the innovating Argentinean directors that emerged some years ago (Pablo Trapero and others). He did the low budget film "Pizza, Birra, Faso", and then filmed some television series, before he came with the idea for "Un oso rojo", a powerful piece of film-making. This is one of the most realistic movies I've seen in years. People like the characters in the film really live like that in Argentina. And the reason because the main character, Oso, has to do the things he doesfor his family, it's because that's the only way he can manage to help them. He can't get clean, he can't get a good job. He has just got out of jail, and is trying to make things right. He is madly in love with his daughter, Alicia. In one scene, the camera shows a tattoo Oso has, that says "Alicia" inside a heart. His daughter asks him: "Can that be taken away". "No, it can't", Oso says. Alicia replies: "Does it last forever?". "For ever", answers his father. The other main characters are Natalia, Oso's ex-wife; Sergio, Natalia's actual husband; and El Turco, an old man that owes Oso 4000 "pesos". Then we see the characters wandering in their reality, and it shocks. It shocks to see a father with his daughter in the park, and a woman thinking the father is a stranger. Alicia seems to love her father too, although he keeps lying to her to hide a reality she could know. When Oso gets a job as a Car Driver, he's driving her daughter to school, and she asks: "Is this car yours or you stole it?". She's not stupid, and Agostina Lage shows it in a very convincing performance for a 9-year old girl. Natalia, Oso's wife; she was in love with him, once, not now. Soledad Villamil, a well-known Argentinean actress, plays the role naturally and speaks like her character should. Then there's a television and movie actor, who always does the same character; at least in my opinion. Luis Machín does it again here, playing Sergio, and it suits him great, in the role of a morally destroyed man. Julio Chávez has the best performance anyway. So strong and powerful, and real; as the whole movie. Honestly, the movie is about him; with his deep feelings, with his love for his family. He would do anything for them; he shows it. It doesn't matter when, how, but he would risk everything. His performance was recognized with the most prestigious awards; and he deserved them all, because he did it superbly. It's in his eyes where you discover a truly focused performance. The script is real and short. I mean, people don't speak much. The script doesn't need to go deeper, we understand it as it is, because the people in the movie can't talk with deep words; and that's how real it is. Because of the actors, Adrián Caetano has directed the film correctly. The movie has some flaws in terms of edition, but it is not noticeable. Together with "Historias Mínimas", "Un oso rojo" was the best film of 2002 in Argentina. There are things people should know. In a scene, when Oso is trying to figure out what to do with his daughter, his chief talks to him a guy that works with them and lost his daughter: "Sometimes, if you want the best for your family, you have to stay away"

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• Action, one man on his own trying to fight against betray

  bentivoglio19772005-02-19

  Un oso Rojo is the best Argentinian film ever, Why? Respect. The movie respects the spectator and is a full emotional ride between Bear trying to make an effort to give her daughter a value. He is a criminal, but he has codes and never will cheat a partner. This movie is the first Urban Western made in my country and is breathtaking. The main actor Julio Chavez gave the performance of his life composing a trouble antihero that fights in his own perspective to be the good guy in the movie. The music is great and the scenario couldn't be better. Adrian Caetano shows us again how to make a true movie about marginality with out low blows and respecting the spectator. Try to see this movie thinking you are an ex convict in a south American country with no skills that the ones the streets gave him. the final scene is one of the best action scenes ever in Argentinian movies. The hero is a man of law in a world of criminals. The bes Argentinian film ever

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• Excellent!

  aks-112003-01-27

  I saw this movie at the Sundance Film Festival. Knew nothing about it going in, but was quickly drawn in by the absorbing story and the lead actor's tough deadpan -- Clint Eastwood with a paunch. The choices the character makes as the story unfolds are never predictable. He's a great antihero character. And the shootout scene at the end is very clever and funny. 10/10.

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