Search - The Dancer Upstairs on DVD

Thoughtful Story of Political Violence in South America

mirasreviews | McLean, VA USA | 09/30/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In an unnamed Latin American nation, random acts of violence have been shattering the countryside's peace for 5 years. For a while the incidents seemed unconnected and were blamed on a variety of activist organizations. Then dead dogs displaying signs proclaiming "Long Live Ezequiel" start turning up hanging from lampposts around the nation's capital. Detective Lieutenant Augustin Rejas (Javier Bardem) is given a team of 4 police officers and assigned the task of discovering Ezequiel's identity and dismantling his violent organization. But before he can make much progress, the organization assassinates a government minister. Fearing the beginnings of a revolution, the nation's president declares martial law. Although Rejas is permitted to continue with his investigation, any person his team investigates is taken into military custody and deprived of due process. Frustrated by the lack of justice in his professional life and with a wife with whom he has little in common at home, Rejas seeks the companionship of his daughter's ballet teacher, Yolanda (Laura Morante), a woman who seems at first to share his soulful nature."The Dancer Upstairs" is based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Shakespeare, who also wrote the film's screenplay. It is the first film directed by actor (and director of theater) John Malkovich. The film is timely in its depiction of terrorism as a socio-political force and military law as a purported protection from it. The extremely violent "Ezequiel" revolutionaries were obviously inspired by "The Shining Path" organization which terrorized Peru during the 1980s and 1990s. But "The Dancer Upstairs" is pretty light-handed with its socio-political statements. We see events unfold from the perspective of Augustin Rejas, who is a reluctant police officer, a man of no professional ambition who only wants to live in a just society. He is saddened by his president's paranoia and the nation's return to martial law. But his own decision-making isn't flawless. The film's pace might best be described as contemplative. It directly reflects Rejas' personality and the tempo of the countryside from which he came and with which he still has great affinity. The film meanders a bit and at times seems to have no clear direction. I don't believe this is a flaw though. The story is definitely moving toward its conclusion. It just isn't taking the direct route. This will probably rack the nerves of viewers who are expecting a traditional police drama. Cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine has created some beautiful and painterly images. He contributes to the film's contemplative mood by pausing on these images long enough for us to take them in. I found a scene in which children carrying large posters scatter in the street at night to be especially beautiful and rather startling. I was grateful to Alcaine and to the film's editor for giving me enough time to look at it. John Malkovich has chosen a difficult adaptation for his directorial debut. "The Dancer Upstairs" has a kind of thematic and narrative obscurity that won't appeal to everyone. I found it to be a memorable film, though, and Javier Bardem is well-cast as the gentle and soulful police detective. The film's biggest fault is that the dialogue is occasionally difficult to understand. The cast is comprised entirely -and understandably- of Spanish and Latin American actors. But the film is in English. While some of the actors speak virtually accent-less English, others can be difficult to decipher."

An impressive debut with an original plot concept

JK | 05/19/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This film has generated a lot of negative reviews by people who are blinded by their conception of "typical" plot structures.Important in this film is not the primary plot about a terrorist group starting a revolution in a Latin American nation, but about one man, the policeman hunting down the terrorist leader. Unlike a film like Se7en, in which the hunt is as enthralling as the personal struggle of the protaganist, thus giving the casual film goer their eye-candy, in this film the hunt serves only to illuminate the feelings Rejas. He is alienated from a corrupt system, alienated from his shallow wife, and he has found solace in the artistic purity of his daughter and her dance instructor.This film is not for someone looking for a taut political thriller or police cat-and-mouse game. It's a character study more like In the Bedroom than a police movie like Se7en.The cinematography is excellent, and the locations that Malkovich chose to shoot perfectly fit the mood of the film. The pacing is slow, and the only thing keeping it from dragging is the emotional intensity of Javier Bardem. Still, at almost two and a half hours, Malkovich could have cut the film by about twenty minutes."