Knocks at My Door

The Venezuelan political drama Knocks at My Door is the sort of thing you know is Important Filmmaking, but just can't bring yourself to like all that much. The story concerns a pair of nuns in an unnamed Latin American country, one a weary veteran (Veronica Oddo) and one a nervous novice (Elba Escobar), who one night offer refuge to a rebel fugitive (Frank Spano) from the oppressive government. The town's politically savvy mayor (Juan Carlos Gene, on whose stage play the film is based) doesn't want to bring the Catholic Church hierarchy down on him, and thus tries to offer the nuns an out for their actions. There's a provocative moral dilemma at the heart of Knocks at My Door--the extent to which people are willing to take advantage of privileged positions while others suffer--as well as an intriguing look at the interaction between Church and state in Latin America. Too often, however, the film seems far more concerned with situation than substance, presenting icons instead of characters. The detached moral debates don't give us enough reason to care about the individuals whose lives are at stake in this situation, and the occasional melodrama of Alejandro Saderman's direction robs the film of much-needed intensity. Knocks at My Door may be effective as an educational tool in the way regimes of terror operate, but it's only so-so as genuine drama. Optional. (S. Renshaw)