I watched El Ciudadano Ilustre (The Distinguished Citizen), an Argentine film nominated for the Oscars. It concerns a Nobel Laureate for literature (Oscar Martinez, very competent)
who returns to his small town birthplace in Argentina to receive the prize of the title of the film and discovers that under the surface the same small town hypocrisies
that made him flee to Spain are still alive and kicking. He too has many of these attitudes, softened by decades in Europe but likely to flair up again. In this very dark comedy, we see how his visit home becomes a nightmare. It may not be a perfect film but the directors (Gaston Duprat and Mariano Cohn) and scriptwriter (Andrés Duprat) manage to juggle a number of expressions of small town life and of Argentine life in particular. Apart from the hypocrisy and thuggery, there is also an interesting line in transgressions with people either breaking the rules
, taking short cuts or disrespecting the other. All very common behaviours here in Argentina and often resulting in harm. The selfishness with which many act and their lack of thought and consideration for the other is clearly spelt out but how well the public will capture this message I don’t know. Dady Brieva
, Andrea Frigerio
and Manuel Vicente as the mayor all give good support. Not a perfect film and not one that will be loved by all but a necessary commentary on life here.
★★★★
passionfilm 