Rotterdam

Lamb of God

Cordero de dios (Argentina-France-Chile)

By JAY WEISSBERG

Read other reviews about this film

Powered By

A Lita Stantic Prods. presentation of a Lita Stantic Prods. (Argentina)/Les Films d'Ici (France)/Goa Films (Chile)/Taeda (Argentina) production. (International sales: Lita Stantic, Buenos Aires.) Produced by Stantic. Directed by Lucia Cedron. Screenplay, Cedron, Santiago Giralt, in collaboration with Thomas Philippon Aginski.
 
With: Mercedes Moran, Leonora Balcarce, Malena Solda, Juan Minujin, Ariana Morini, Maria Izquierdo, Ignacia Allamand, Ana Celentano, Horacio Pena, Jorge Marrale.
(Spanish, French dialogue)
 

A grandfather's kidnapping re-opens a painful chapter in Argentine history in the well-made but curiously soft family drama "Lamb of God." Tyro helmer Lucia Cedron shuttles back and forth between the military dictatorship and the 2002 economic crisis, but despite her own family's connections to the terror of the '70s, she seems afraid to tackle the big emotions head-on, and doesn't build her scenes to a needed climax. Still, this respectable first feature should see modest biz at home, where issues of amnesty and culpability still rage.

Argentina's economic collapse at the start of the 21st century is the backdrop, as rancher Arturo (Jorge Marrale) is kidnapped by unidentified men. Thirty-year-old granddaughter Guillermina (Leonora Balcarce) is in frequent contact with his captors, but they keep upping the ransom, and she's not certain how to raise the funds.

Guillermina's mother Teresa (Mercedes Moran) flies in from exile in Paris, but her curious diffidence isn't helping matters, and it's clear that something Arturo did in the past is holding her back from getting involved. Helmer Cedron jumps back and forth between this moment and 1978, when Teresa (Malena Solda) and her husband Paco (Juan Minujin) were part of the underground movement working against the military junta.

Unwilling to get the police involved, Guillermina wants to go to her grandfather's rich friend Gen. Alejandro (Horacio Pena) for the cash, but when it's clear he'll give them the funds only if Teresa doesn't testify at the newly created tribunals investigating the country's past, mother walks out, trailing her confused and angry daughter behind. Teresa's in a quandary: does she reveal her suspicions regarding her father's complicity in Paco's murder, or leave Guillermina with happy memories of a kindly grandfather?

Cedron's own father, helmer Jorge Cedron, died in exile under mysterious circumstances during the dictatorship, so her involvement in issues surrounding responsibility and guilt are obviously strong -- so strong, in fact, that they may be hampering her ability to emotionally plunge into her story. Pic lacks a sense of incisiveness, and the story is suffused with a curiously dispassionate air. Cedron is a talented filmmaker -- her short "En Ausencia" won a Silver Bear in Berlin -- but the script has a pervading calmness lacking the power to sweep the viewer into a vortex.

At the start, the family treats the kidnapping as a fairly unremarkable, if mildly stressful, event and, curiously, Cedron fails to provide any sense of the chaotic nature of Argentina's financial crisis. When Teresa makes clear she won't accept money from the General, Guillermina decides to sell the house to make up the funds, though surely in 2002 a quick cash sale in a country mired in a severe economic crisis would take more time than impatient kidnappers will allow.

Perfs are all solid, especially Moran's haunted, quiet turmoil. Lensing often opts for slightly shaky steadycam to increase a sense of unease, though sound and music are underutilized, further hampering any crescendo. Scenes set in 1978 are shot with a softer light, while 2002 is signaled with brighter hues.

Camera (color), Guillermo Nieto; editor, Rosario Suarez; music, Sebastian Escofet; production designer, Cristina Nigro; costume designer, Marisa Urruti; sound (Dolby Digital), Guido Berenblum, Victor Tendler; associate producer, Serge Lalou; assistant director, Federico d'Auria; casting, Natalia Smirnoff. Reviewed at Rotterdam Film Festival (opener, competing), Jan. 23, 2008. Running time: 90 MIN.