Zama (2017)

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Based on the novel by Antonio Di Benedetto written in 1956, on Don Diego de Zama, a Spanish officer of the seventeenth century settled in Asunción, who awaits his transfer to Buenos Aires. Zama is another film that just never hits the mark it perhaps thought it would have plus the acting wasn't that great either and the main lead was so boring and just hard to basically like to be honest plus the overall storyline and pacing was so slow and bland that made the movie even worse. See it only if you like this kind of movies or those stories in general. (0/10)

Poor Don Diego de Gama. Both parents Spanish, but he's never been to Spain, as he is frequently snobbily reminded by the Spanish-born residents in his 1790s Argentina back country town. He's a bureacrat serving a king 6000 miles away, unable to decide anything by himself, a fish in water (in a ruling metaphor) who can't live in a wet place. He wants to leave but can't, because everything is on hold. Will a military expedition bail him out? Bitterly totally ironic, structured around off camera sounds that are never what hearers think they are. I'm now hunting down the 1956 novel by Antonio_di_Benedetto.

Hard to follow all aspects of the story with several plot lines dangling. Overall it was simply a depressing story of how important it is to learn how to play the game. We do get what seems like a very realistic view of life in South America centuries ago and some gorgeous cinematography.

In spite of what critics might say, this movie does require the audience to actually take some time but not to "rejoice in a well told but a bit slow story" (sic)... You might perhaps dwell on what took you to watch this pretentious movie in the first place. But yes, you are going to remain in your seat for something close to 2 hours (if you don't leave, as some people did) to finally get... nothing. Basically, if you read the storyline here, you've already had it all for nothing else happens, truly. Nothing. There is no back story for any character. Some of them pop up and disappear just the same. With no explanation whatsover. Then, the campaign to catch the "thieve"... it happens out of the blue. I asumed something occurred in between his decision to do so but the director chose (for some unknown reason) not to make that part of the story into the final cut. However, she did decide to include something else. It seems she found a lot of beautiful places to film her movie and in almost everyone she said "gee, let's film a bit here, no, no actors, just the landscape and then I will include it in the final cut", well, that is exactly what she did. Perhaps, if you are at home and you get to press fast forward from time to time... it might (huge emphasis there) improve the experience but I most sincerely doubt it.All in all, it's a complete waste of time (and money) and *this* is what we sent from Argentina to the Oscars. Some reporter asked Lucrecia Martel why she has chosen to be absent from the cinemas for 9 years. Well, some of us haven't noticed her absence at all and would be very much welcome her to remain the way she was.