PLANET SICK-BOY: http://www.sick-boy.com
Can indie film God John Sayles actually get more independent? After the critical and commercial success and a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination for 1996's Lone Star, Sayles has made a slower, richer film about Central American politics with no big stars, that is predominantly voiced in Spanish, Nahuatl, Mayan and Kuna. Is he trying to keep people at home or what?
Sayles has cast Argentine acting great Federico Luppi (Cronos) to play Fuentes, a well to do doctor in a fictitious country who spends him time training future doctors to bring modern medicine to the surrounding `inaccessible' jungle areas. When Fuentes happens upon a promising former student running stolen stereo equipment, the out of touch doctor becomes afraid that his pet project might not be doing as well as he had thought.
Fuentes decides to take a holiday from his private practice to see if his other students have fallen from medical grace as well. Armed with only a freshly pressed dress shirt, snow-white hair and a shiny four-wheel drive vehicle, he drives deeper and deeper into both the tangled jungle and an intriguing mystery. It seems that some of the villages are either completely deserted or only inhabited by a few people who refuse to speak to Fuentes. The mass genocide has apparently made them leery of any outsider. Of course, the government blames guerillas for wiping out the small villages, while the guerillas blame rogue bands of government troops for doing the same.
The interaction between Fuentes and the cast of characters he meets on his journey are fascinating. Rounding out a fine international ensemble is Kathryn Grody (The Lemon Sisters) and Chicago Hope star Mandy Patinkin, who play an annoying American tourist couple. Their lines are the only English spoken in the film.
The script has a similar slow-handed pace to Lone Star and was magnificently shot by Slawomir Idziak (Gattaca). Sayles, who also edited the film, has again crafted a phenomenal story that shows his diverse tastes. A sample of his past work reveals films featuring black aliens, baseball gambling, coal mining, crippled soap opera stars and Irish folklore. You can't get a better medley that that and Sayles has shown that he is definitely at the top of his game with Hombres Armados (Men With Guns).
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