Rodrigo D: No future
Colombia, 1995
Director: Víctor Gaviria
Genre: Social drama
Script: Víctor Gaviria
Cast: Ramiro Meneses, Carlos Mario Restrepo, Jackson Idrian Gallego, Vilma Díaz
Plot
Medellín, 1990. Rodrigo is a teenager with a passion for punk-rock who, together with his friends, tries to create his own band. Some of the members of his circle are involved in various crimes, and are even forced to flee. Rodrigo tries to buy a drum kit to rehearse, but only manages to buy the sticks.
Commentary:
Soporific and at times unintelligible (mainly due to the lousy sound quality, and not only to the cryptic jargon used by the Colombian punks). Complete indifference towards the fate of the characters, no empathy is felt for them. The film goes on, tiresomely and leadenly, without anything relevant happening (at least during the first hour). Rodrigo with his friends listening to music, Rodrigo arguing with his sister, being reprimanded by his father, his buddies playing a knife fight in a ruined house, while he “plays the drums” on a wall, the young people swimming in the pool… Banal and everyday scenes accompanied by punk music… “Rodrigo D: No argument” would perhaps be a more appropriate title. The involvement of some of the young people in criminal acts is treated in a very superficial way, as if it were something secondary, so that it is not possible to generate intrigue.
Generally, critics have praised this film, putting it on a par with the Brazilian “Cidade de Deus” (2002), the Mexican “Amores Perros” (2000) or comparing it to the also Colombian – although produced by Venezuela – “Sicario” (1995). However, these three are far superior to Gaviria’s film, which disappoints for not delving into a subject that could have given a lot of potential, especially considering that it was shot in the troubled city of Medellin in 1990.