| Satanas | |
|---|---|
Original film poster |
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| Directed by | Andrés Baiz |
| Produced by | Rodrigo Guerrero |
| Written by | Andrés Baiz (Based on Mario Mendoza's book and inspired by true events) |
| Starring | Damián Alcázar Blas Jaramillo Marcela Mar |
| Music by | Angelo Milli |
| Cinematography | Mauricio Vidal |
| Editing by | Alberto de Toro |
| Release date(s) | March 4, 2007 (U.S.) June 1, 2007 (Colombia) October 10, 2007 (Mexico) |
| Running time | 120 minutes |
| Country | Colombia |
| Language | Spanish |
Satanás (Spanish for Satan) is a 2007 Colombian film directed by Andi Baiz. It is adapted from the novel of the same title by Mario Mendoza Zambrano. It was Colombia's submission to the 80th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee.[1][2]
The story is framed in a context of urban solitude in the modern world and sheds some light on the events that surrounded a spree killing that took place in Bogotá, Colombia, in 1986. Satanás, the film, explores the final stages in the life of the killer Campo Elías Delgado.
Contents |
Eliseo (Damián Alcázar), a middle-aged English teacher, and veteran of the Vietnam War, has aspirations for a better life. In the past, he has had a lot of difficulty creating and maintaining relationships (especially with women). He has a difficult relationship with his mother, Blanca (Teresa Gutierrez), who detests him and treats him with no respect. Due to his mother, he always has problems, especially with his neighbor and landlord Beatriz (Vicky Hernandez), who is always asking him for money for his rent and for the support of the Colombian Army and the people displaced by violence, which he refuses, rudely saying, "They're all cowards, they don't know what a real soldier is like and I'm not interested." Offended by his refusal, his neighbor begins to tell everyone that Eliseo is a bad person. Eventually Eliseo is not welcome anywhere, and in a scene at the local store, they treat him rudely and make it clear that he is not welcome inside the store. This is one of the biggest factors contributing to Eliseo going mad, but it is not the only reason. The other reason, was because he fell in love with Natalia (Martina Garcia), his 15-year-old English student who lived in a very wealthy part of the city. Eliseo fell in love with Natalia because of her gentle, studious, and polite nature during lessons. For Eliseo, this small bit of kindness gives him hope that she could reciprocate his feelings. Eventually, he starts giving her gifts and starts to look forward more and more to seeing her again. However, this all changes when he is invited, and goes to, Natalia's birthday party; once there he realizes that Natalia has a boyfriend named Esteban (Javier Gardeazábal), and as she ignores Eliseo through the whole party (and her friends laugh at his gift), he is heartbroken. All of his stress and failures finally become too much, and he decides to go on a killing spree. After a heated argument with his mother, he loses his temper and shoots her in the living room. After she is dead, he sets the body alight, a slight grin spreading on his face. When the fire begins to spread, he runs out of the apartment, shouting, "Fire! Fire!". When Vicky, the neighbor causing all the problems, walks out of her apartment, he shoots her. He also kills someone else on the stairs. Right after leaving the building, he heads anxiously for Natalia's house. When he arrives at the house, he acts normally and talks with her mother. He kills Natalia and her mother, viciously attacking one, then the other. At some point in the evening, he goes to the house of an old friend. He tells her that he is leaving town and thanks her for her friendship. From there, he goes on the last leg of his killing spree, the high class restaurant, "Pozzetto". He chooses an expensive meal and a few drinks, and consumes them both. He pays the bill leaving a big tip. Then, he goes into the bathroom and prepares himself for the upcoming massacre. When he comes out, he shoots the restaurant's pianist. Next, he begins to shoot anyone trying to escape. One of the people he shoots is a new waitress who has just begun her first day of work.
The second story consists that of Paola (Marcela Mar), an attractive young woman who hates her job in the marketplace. After accepting a better offer, she becomes a member of a gang of robbers, acting as a decoy to drug and rob wealthy men's money, by putting Scopolamine in their drinks and then luring them into a cab where they'd do the "Paseo Millonario". Her story embodies the social and urban violence of life in Bogotá, Colombia. As the movie goes on, after another night of robbing wealthy men, she grabs a cab ride home. Unfortunately, she ends up in the hands of two rapists who kidnap her and assault her at an old taxi shop. Afterwards, she is traumatized and eventually asks members of the gang she joined, to kill the two people that raped her. Feeling sorry for the deaths of the two rapists and all the robberies committed before, she quits the gang and gets a job as a waitress at one of the finest restaurants in Bogotá, "Pozzetto".
The third story consists that of Padre Ernesto, a tormented and libidinous priest. He is in a passionate and love-filled affair with his housekeeper, who is tormented by the bearing of the brunt of the secrecy of a woman in her community. This woman, who murders her three children "to release" of life (of evil), appears in the first part of the movie in a scene that serves to anticipate and prepare for the final slaughter at the end of the movie. But her stay in prison and its diabolical possession make her a spokesperson for theories, theses and obvious symbols for the future events. In the end, Ernesto cannot stop to refuse his carnal instincts towards his housekeeper and is too traumatized by the woman in the prison that he eventually loses his faith and refuses to go on as a priest. So right after he left he completely quit as a priest and invited his housekeeper to the restaurant named Pozzetto for a date but is unfortunately killed along with his date by Eliseo.
Festival of Monte Carlo (Monaco)
San Sebastián International Film Festival – Horizons (Spain)
Festival de Cine de Bogotá – (Colombia)
Ibero-American Film Festival of Huelva (Spain)
Latitude Zero Film Festival – (Ecuador)