No ordinary vigilante-bent-on-revenge movie, this somber Chilean drama follows the slow transition of passive, low-key family man Jorge (Daniel Candia) into a desperate killer. At home in a dangerous neighborhood plagued by street thugs, Jorge's world is forever altered when his son is shot by local bully Kalule (Daniel Antivilo). Kalule serves a brief sentence and then returns to harass Jorge, threaten his wife, and sexually assault his school-age daughter. As Alfred Hitchcock observed in his thriller Torn Curtain, killing a man is a difficult task, and Jorge's efforts to eliminate Kalule and deal with his remains becomes an all-consuming preoccupation. Writer-director Alejandro Fernandez Almendras has made a taut tale of crime and tragedy, yet he ingeniously keeps the main action at a certain emotional distance, focusing instead on the rhythms of ordinary life: going to work, watching television, and checking blood sugar levels (Jorge is diabetic). The emphasis on such prosaic moments keeps Jorge's murderous actions from looking simply like the righteous deeds of a protective father or even a moral failure; instead, Jorge's experience suggests an unhappy inevitability as he becomes caught up in a destiny that can't be controlled. Recommended. (T. Keogh)
To Kill a Man
Film Movement, 82 min., in Spanish w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $24.95 Volume 30, Issue 2
To Kill a Man
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