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CAUTIVA (CAPTIVE) Rating:   (out of 5 stars)Director: Gaston Biraben Producer: Gaston Biraben Writer: Gaston Biraben Directors of Photography: Carlos Torlaschi, Abel Penalba Cast: Barbara Lombardo, Susana Campos, Hugo Arana, Osvaldo Santoro Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew |
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A tender, tough and, most of all, compelling work, the Argentine film Cautiva (Captive) challenges its audience on both an emotional and moral level. Set in 1994 Buenos Aires, writer/director/producer Gaston Biraben's feature debut puts its protagonist, the 15-year-old Cristina Quadri (Barbara Lombardo), smack dab in the middle of an almost impossible situation. In the span of one afternoon, the young woman has her life irrevocably changed.
Raised in a upper crust family (her father a former police chief), Cristina is called away from her Catholic school one day and informed by a federal judge that her mother and father are not actually her biological parents. Cristina, as expected, resists believing these statements at first, but soon the evidence becomes irrefutable. Against the protests of her adoptive parents, Cristina is placed in the custody of her biological grandmother (Susan Campos), and legally becomes Sofia Lombardi.
It turns out that Cristina/Sofia's parents "disappeared" during Argentina's military rule in the 1970s, where the fates of government objectors were, more often than not, very grim ones. As Cristina/Sofia comes to discover, the people she has known as mother and father may even be in some way responsible for the "disappearance" of her natural parents.
What makes this story so difficult is the inability to assign value judgments on the characters. At first it appears as if the authorities, and even Cristina's extended biological family, will be painted as the villains, only to have these expectations jarred as the film progresses. Cristina's adoptive parents certainly may have been involved in reprehensible activity in the past, but it's difficult for one to judge the actions of these people after the fact, in light of the social climate of 1970's Argentina. The Quadris have obviously showered their daughter with love and support; a seeming model of good parenting. Cautiva makes us question what exactly defines the word "family."
Biraben is a straightforward, no frills storyteller, and doesn't really give us any hints as to which way we should tip our allegiances. His approach can run into problems because everything that's revealed is done so largely through dialogue, and the film is occasionally burdened with the length of the talky scenes. But the actors are usually able to add immediacy to these moments, and that spark carries the weight of all the chatter. Everything about this film -- from the performances, to the economical camera work, to the pitch of the dialogue -- feels utterly sincere.
Cautiva may
be one of the most quietly confrontational (with none of the baggage
that the term implies) movies I've ever seen. It is able to stir
thoughts and feelings without demanding this reaction from the
viewer -- an especially impressive accomplishment given the story
and character manipulations commonly found in films trying to
deliver a message. With Cautiva, Gasten Biraben communicates
subtly, yet none of his story's passion is lost in the process.
(Screened at 2003 San Sebastian Film Festival, 2004 Santa Barbara
Film Festival.)
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