The Silence of Neto

(EL SILENCIO DE NETO) ((U.S.-GUATEMALAN))

By DAVID ROONEY

Read other reviews about this film

Powered By

A Morningside Movies (New York)/Buenos Dias (Antigua) production. (International sales: Morningside Movies, N.Y.) Executive producer, Luis Argueta. Directed by Argueta. Screenplay, Justo Chang, Argueta.
 
Neto Yepes ... Oscar Javier Almengor
Ernesto Yepes ... Herbert Meneses
Eduardo Yepes ... Julio Diaz
Elena Yepes ... Eva Tamargo Lemus
German ... Eduardo Jose Guerrero
Alberto ... Sergio Paz
Nidia ... Indira Chinchilla
 

"The Silence of Neto" sets a pre-teen boy's efforts to put childhood behind him against the U.S.-orchestrated coup that overthrew Guatemalan president Jacobo Arbenz's liberal, left-wing government in 1954. Though the film's political agenda lapses in and out of focus, debuting director Luis Argueta keeps the human drama squarely within his sights. Result is a handsomely produced, engagingly played first feature from Guatemala's fledgling film industry that should land theatrical dates in Spanish-lingo territories and exposure through specialist cultural outlets beyond that.

Concise glimpses during the opening credits fluidly intro the tyke of the title, Neto (Oscar Javier Almengor), and the death of his favorite uncle, Ernesto (Herbert Meneses). Neto converses with Ernesto's ghost during the funeral service, ushering in a prolonged flashback to six months earlier.

U.S. and local military intervention is chronicled first as a distant rumble, anxiously followed on radio broadcasts promoting a red-scare campaign to protect U.S. interests in the Guatemalan fruit export industry that were compromised by Arbenz's land reforms.

Gradually, the conflict's tentacles take hold of everyday life. Evening curfews become routine; government employees, including Neto's father and the teaching staff at his school, lose their jobs to army personnel; Neto's classmate sweetheart and her family disappear overnight; and his own family is forced by the threat of bombings to leave the city.

The war zone also extends to Neto's family life. His father, Eduardo (Julio Diaz), raises him with a firm hand, instilling ties to hearth and home, while his uncle pushes the boy in free-spirited, inquisitive directions. Hostility between the two men is fueled by their shared passion for Neto's mother (Eva Tamargo Lemus).

Argueta opts for a rather straightforward narrative approach, but his strongest suit is a breezy handle on the innocent pursuits of adolescence. Slightly chubby Neto's halfhearted attempts at exercise, his observation of the passionate clinches between the family's Indian maid and her revolutionary lover , and trips with his chums to ogle a girls' ballet class are all given captivating treatment. Neto's long-standing ambition to fly a hot-air balloon without his father's help provides a satisfying cap-off.

The film's technical polish far outshines its modest $ 500,000 budget. The cast, culled mainly from the ranks of Guatemalan theater, is generally fine.

Camera (color), Ramon Suarez; editor, David Tedeschi, Gloria Pineyro; music, Jose Gallegos, Maurice Gallegos; production design, Justo Chang; art direction, Ana Solares; set decoration, Vivian Rivas; costume design, Gloria Wurmser; sound, Antonio Arroyo; associate producer, Abigail Hunt; assistant director, Jorge Ramirez Suarez. Reviewed at San Sebastian Film Festival (non-competing), Sept. 21, 1994. Running time:106 MIN.