El Huaso: The Last Rodeo

Canadian filmmaker Carlo Guillermo Proto's documentary highlights the emotional trauma experienced by his father, Gustavo, a 58-year-old Chilean immigrant who carved out a successful business career before becoming obsessed with the concept of suicide after medical tests detected the possible beginnings of Alzheimer's disease. The diagnosis only exacerbates Gustavo's propensity toward depression—his mother succumbed to Alzheimer's and his father took his own life. As Gustavo finds his memory slowly fraying—a sequence in which he becomes frustrated by failing to take the proper highway exit is particularly painful—he arranges to leave the bleak wintry landscape of Toronto and go back to Chile. While Gustavo claims that his return to his native country will allow him to pursue a childhood dream of being a cowboy, his son is concerned that the trip home will be the final stop on his life's journey. Although often uncomfortable to watch, El Huaso tells a sensitive and heartbreaking family story. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)