Alamar
2010 Directed by Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio
Synopsis
Jorge and Roberta have been separated for several years. They simply come from opposite worlds: he likes an uncomplicated life in the jungle, while she prefers a more urban existence. He is Mexican and she is Italian, and she has decided to return to Rome with their five-year-old son, Natan. But before they leave, Jorge wishes to take young Natan on a trip, hoping to teach him about his Mayan origins in Mexico. At first the boy is physically and emotionally uncomfortable with the whole affair, and gets seasick on the boat taking them to their destination. But as father and son spend more time together, Natan begins a learning experience that will remain with him forever.
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Part of the 30 countries festival. Mexico
Young 6 year old Natan spends some time with his father in the Banco Chinchorro, a coral reef off the coast of Mexico before going to Italy with his mother. Natan and his father take a boat to their final destination and all you can sea is water for the longest time. You can't help but wonder how far into the ocean they are going. In a touching scene Natan's father contorts his body to hang on to the boat railing while also keeping his hand on young Natan's belly to help relieve his seasickness. It is a long voyage and the father holds on to his son throughout.The film feels like…
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Part of Lise and Jonnie’s What A Wonderful World: May 30 days, 30 countries.
Film 9 – May 9 – Mexico
What an amazing, charming film! It entirely took me by surprise.
The opening montage tells the story of falling in love, creating a child, and then the course that sometimes relationships take. The love is no longer there, but the child is still there, and the child is special. The voiceover from the mother postulates that she and her partner were drawn together to create this wonderful child, in this time, and at this place.
Ok. Kiddo is going to be a prodigy. Be a humanitarian. Be an instrument for social change. Save the world. Maybe not save the…
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There has been some degree of questioning as to whether Alamar ought to be classed as a documentary, owing perhaps to its lack of a distinct narrative as such. Certainly the lifestyle it portrays and documents is a real one, lived by real people in the real world. The names of the performers seem to suggest that this is a real family, Natan the actual son of these parents rather than simply playing the role. Maybe it is a documentary. Maybe there is fictionalisation; maybe this sets it apart and classifies it as a narrative film. The one thing I can say for sure is that whether it is documentary or not is irrelevant. It matters not in the slightest…
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Alamar is a film filled with small moments that take on great significance for its two characters. A coming of age story between a father and a son soon to be parted when the son returns back to his mother in Italy. It is a blend of documentary and fiction with colours of eye-popping vibrancy (it is evident that the director has a background in cinematography), Alamar is a film of beauty and simplicity.
The film is a near-wordless look at a way of life seldom captured on film. Living on and off the water, the film documents daily life whether it is the father teaching his son to fish or swimming amongst the stunning reef. What story there is…
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Simply amazing.
It's hard to classify this picture, you can't judge the screenplay, you can't study the work of the cast, neither the soundtrack; none of this usual characteristics we usually discuss are relevant here. Even thought this is not properly a documentary, it still has a lot of documentary qualities. The greatest achievement from this director, in my opinion, was to bound between documentary and cinematographic poetry.
Although I've seen some critics complaining about the poverty of the relationships here, I don't really think this is relevant to the director's will. This film-documentary wants to show the beauty of this little part of our planet by showing Natan's enchantment knowing this new world and so making you feel as delighted as this little boy felt.
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5th Film in the Letterboxd Festival.
I love it when you can sit back and just let a film wash over you, watching the everyday lives of others, that couldn't be more different than your own.
Beautifully shot and paced, with a tinge of sadness but not overly sentimental.
Wonderful.
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blurring the lines of fiction and non fiction this film is a heart-warming tale that show the relation between a father and a son without falling into any conventions or using any tricks.
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Una de mis películas favorita que mezcla muy bien el documental y la ficción, logrando mostrar la unidad entre padre e hijo, además de mostrar la vida en la costa mexicana.
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Part of the 30 countries festival. Mexico
Young 6 year old Natan spends some time with his father in the Banco Chinchorro, a coral reef off the coast of Mexico before going to Italy with his mother. Natan and his father take a boat to their final destination and all you can sea is water for the longest time. You can't help but wonder how far into the ocean they are going. In a touching scene Natan's father contorts his body to hang on to the boat railing while also keeping his hand on young Natan's belly to help relieve his seasickness. It is a long voyage and the father holds on to his son throughout.The film feels like…
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Part of Lise and Jonnie’s What A Wonderful World: May 30 days, 30 countries.
Film 9 – May 9 – Mexico
What an amazing, charming film! It entirely took me by surprise.
The opening montage tells the story of falling in love, creating a child, and then the course that sometimes relationships take. The love is no longer there, but the child is still there, and the child is special. The voiceover from the mother postulates that she and her partner were drawn together to create this wonderful child, in this time, and at this place.
Ok. Kiddo is going to be a prodigy. Be a humanitarian. Be an instrument for social change. Save the world. Maybe not save the…
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Even though there isn't much to this film it's still an enjoyable and relaxing watch. It's like watching a tank of tropical fish or lying on a beach or something. Nothing really happens but it's nice anyway. Seeing people live a slower paced life somewhere warm is tranquilizing.
The story? A kid goes fishing with his dad. Reminded me of going fishing with my Dad as a kid except this Mexican dude didn't have cans of bitter in his tackle box, nor did he cut the trip short at 11am when the pubs opened. Still, if you can draw a correlation between a coral reef and the Rochdale Canal, it was nicely nostalgic.
There's also some 'Hitchcockian/Aesopian' fables to behold. The Kid and the Crocodile. The Kid and the 100ft Tower. The Dad, the Kid, the Bird and the Cockroach...etc...
Nice.
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Transcends the art of blending documentary with fiction. Unhurried and graceful, this is a bittersweet, aching paean to fatherhood, a soaring hymn to nature and a stark, primal reminder of what makes us who we are.
Full review: www.themoviejerk.co.uk/film-reviews/alamar-2010/
by The Moviejerk
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Cinema at its most magically transporting.I want to live in this movie.
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La simpatía de sus protagonistas hace todo un poco mas tolerable, pero la belleza del caribe nunca había sido tan soporífera.
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Kind of felt like a hybrid between a documentary and a conventional movie. If you're the kind of person who can't handle a movie where not much happens, avoid this. It was an semi-interesting slice of life movie between a father and son at sea.