‘Mistaken identity and plan gone awry’ – these were the famous narratives, constructed by the Master of suspense ‘Alfred Hitchcock.’ These suspense thrillers didn’t just feature soulless stories punctuated by money-grabbing effects. It had a powerful subtext, where all the themes traveled a full circle. ‘Wrong time, wrong place’ scenario of Hitchcock was used wonderfully in the recent Paraguay ‘chase’ movie, “7 Boxes” (2013). Some of the film’s energetic overtones take us within the Quentin Tarantino arena too. It has both the art house and Hollywood appeal. Directors Juan Carlos Maneglia and Tana Schembori have set the movie in a place, unknown to global viewers -- jam-packed, poverty- filled marketplace in Asuncion, Paraguay.
It is 2005 and 17 year old Victor (Celso Franco) catches his
first glimpse of a cell phone featuring a camera. He seems fascinated by the
idea watching his own self on video. Victor pictures of being a heartthrob on
TV. He decides, no matter what, he must buy a cell phone. But, Victor is a
wheel-barrow pusher and cell phones are very expensive in 2005. Paraguay’s
Ascuncion marketplace is the central hub for trade in all manner of goods.
Victor only earns a meager fee for hustling the wheelbarrow, full of goods,
through heavy crowds. Victor’s world revolves around two girls: an
enthusiastic, pushy friend Liz (Lali Gonzalez) and Sister Tamara (Nelly
Davalos). Tamara works with her pregnant friend Leti (Katia Garcia) in the
kitchen of a Chinese restaurant. Leti is ready to sell her camera cell phone
for $100. The owner blabbers in Mandarin and his young son has a crush on
Tamara.
Victor, desperate for money, grabs an once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity when it comes in the guise of Gus (Roberto Cardozo). Gus works in a
butcher shop and the place is crawling with cops. Gus’ boss Dario (Paletita) wants
to take seven mysterious, sealed boxes out of his butcher's shop. Gus chooses
Victor and gives him a cell phone, asks him to keep pushing the boxes
throughout the market until he gets information about destination place. The
pay will be $100, if he didn’t get caught by police. Victor happily takes away
the boxes, but a rival push carter Nelson (Victor Sosa) arrives at the scene.
Dario often uses Nelson for this kind of job. After learning that the boxes
were taken by some other boy, both Dario and Nelson gets enraged. Nelson, who needs to pay for meds for his
sick child pursues Victor, while Dario and his pal are afraid about the things
that would happen if the box gets into the hands of police. What’s in the box?
Soon, Victor sees what’s inside it and Nelson wrongly hears what’s inside,
which makes varied group of people, crooks and cops alike, to intensely look
for the boxes.
Time-lapse photography, long tracking shots through the
mazes of shops, pulsating music, stylized camerawork and acrobatic stunts
doesn’t upstage the human element of the story. Co-director/writer Magnelia’s
script has enclosed top-notch thriller ingredients along with cohesive
storytelling elements. Dark humor, social observation and affecting emotions
are the additional parts of the script too. The Chinese restaurant subplot and
characters like that of Liz seems pointless at first, but in the end, we could
feel that everything is in there for a reason. There are some distractions in
the name of comedy and the dialogues at times are pedestrian (may be the
English subtitles are bad), but still the film surges, thanks to the surprises.
Even though the film is set in 2005, a pre-smart phone era,
we could understand the boy’s manic fascination with gadgets. The film’s final
referential scene and many of Victor’s antics stresses how we are all consumed
or seduced by our own projected image. Nelson and his buddies mentality
showcases how greed facilitates to form a misguided sense of opportunity that
keeps the working class downtrodden. Victor pushing the wheelbarrow is itself
can be viewed as a metaphor: the interests of various parties revolves like a
wheel and at every corner hits back at Victor, who is pushing himself against
all odds. The direction moves the story with a dizzying speed, making us
recalling the spirit of “Run Lola Run.” They use Hollywood type of outrageous
twists and black humor, but never forgets to demonstrate the South American
poverty, where less fortunate souls are trying to make their lives a little
brighter.
“7 Boxes” (105 minutes) uses a simple scenario to build a structured
complex thriller. The twists, the terrific ensemble of actors (mostly
first-timers) and a slick script make this film an excellent escapist fare.
Trailer
1 comment:
great review
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