5/6/15

Ciudad Delirio

Columbia and Spain (English captions) jointly submitted this deliriously upbeat film to the 2015 Seattle International Film Festival. Directed by Chus Guitiérrez, this happy outing features an up-tight Spanish doctor visiting Columbia, where he learns how to dance the salsa. Sound predictable? When he is told to "Trust your intuition, feel the music and let yourself go" we know The Force will be with him.

This is like an exuberant MGM musical with a kaleidoscopic touch of Busby Berkeley! It hits all its marks, with cliché stacked upon cliché, which we happily accept, because of the non-stop dance, terrific costumes and amazing choreography. To top it all off, the editing is brilliant.

The cast:
  • Jorge Herrera is Vaso de Leche ("Glass of Milk") who has many lessons to teach, not just about dancing. This old fellow has an awesome collection of vinyl records. He gets rid of his car because of FOA.
  • Carolina Ramirez is Angie, a single mother struggling to run a dance class. Problem is, her persistent ex is her best partner and her only choice for the upcoming contest. Of course she has a gay confidante. (Did I mention clichés?)
  • Julián Villagrán is Javier, an unhappily married doctor who comes to Columbia from Spain to speak at a medical conference. We watch Columbia (and Angie) get under his skin.
Be ready for a swirl of salsa! By the way, if you want to know what "FOA" stands for, you'll have to see this movie...smile...