March 14, 2006
Duck Season
Ever since we caught the trailer for Duck Season (Temporada de Patos), by the Mexican director Fernando Eimbcke a few months ago, Jenn and I have been eager to check out the film. Last night we finally did. The frenetic trailer misrepresents the movie somewhat. The film about boredom of pre-teens stuck in an apartment without electricity on a Sunday afternoon is presented with bone dry deadpan humor that recalls Aki Kaurismaki or Jim Jarmusch. The camera is stationary, the dialog slow , and the humor often found in the tiniest of glances. Boredom is hard to pull off on screen unless you plant a few ticking time bombs to keep the audience hooked and while there are plenty of ticking bombs here, they don't get planted until rather late in the game. By that time about a quarter of our audience had already checked out (the lady next to me was snoring loudly about 15 minutes in). Still there are plenty of laughs here (and ultimately some real emotion) especially if you are patient and speak Spanish (much gets lost in translation). Add strong cinematography, a winning cast of young actors, a great soundtrack and you have a fun little movie. Check it out if you are in the right mood.
to this site
03/14/06 12:13 PM
Anonymous said...
life's too short to waste hours on something that isn't an outright recommend.
03/14/06 09:54 PM
raul said...
I do outright recommend the movie. I love filmmakers who have the courage to let moments linger (Hell, the Antonioni movie La Notte is in my top 10), but this certainly a minority view. Also as I noted I think much of the sly humor of this film was lost with the translation. I found I was the only one in the theater laughing through many scenes.
03/15/06 10:16 AM
joe said...
All the reviews seem to be very positive but they've all got that don't-blame-me-if-you-fall-asleep caveat. Stranger than Paradise is one of my all-time favorites, and everything I've read makes me want to see Duck Season. Plus my wife is fluent in Spanish and she can cue me to chuckle at the puns lost in translation...
BTW, my daughter did some voice-over in Steve Buscemi's new movie, Lonesome Jim (he's the director, not actor), and it'll be arriving at the IFC theater later this month. I can't wait to see it. Trees Lounge is incredible...
03/15/06 11:11 AM
raul said...
"screamin' jay hawkins. He's a wild man."