Coronation

An evocative study of sexual obsession and class antagonism, 2000's Coronation is the most honored film in Chile's history (winner of 39 international awards). Julio Jung is quietly riveting as Don Andres, an aging, emotionally repressed Santiago aristocrat who hires 17-year-old Estela, a young woman from the country, to care for his senile, abusive grandmother in her decaying mansion. Andres, seen in flashbacks being subjected to harsh religious training as a child, finds himself irresistibly drawn to Estela, even though--unlike his closest friend, a lecherous, hedonistic doctor--he's always been rigidly self-controlled and resistant to sexual temptation. Meanwhile, the object of his affection becomes involved with a local laborer (whose larcenous brother-in-law takes aim at Don Andres' wealth), and winds up both pregnant and abandoned. Adapted by writer-director Silvio Caiozzi from a novel by José Donoso, Coronation moves very deliberately, but its pace is stately rather than slow, with an almost palpable atmosphere of festering decadence, and occasional surrealistic touches that enhance the mood. Highly recommended. (F. Swietek)