Movie Comments--Bonsai

Note: This review/comments are cross posted under the South American Movies Folder.

Last night I felt in the mood to watch a movie. So here are my comments.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this Chilean film (Bonsai (2012), but since it had been nominated at several film festivals, I wanted to give it a try. The movie is based on a book/novella by the Chilean author Alejandro Zambra.

Now I seem to remember reading somewhere that the movie was a funny romantic comedy. I'd have to disagree. Though there were a few humorous spots, I wouldn't consider it funny. Or if it was funny, it was with a very light touch.

The film is definitely romantic, though. It's also sensual and tender, and of course, there's some nudity. The movie has four main actors: one man and three women. The male, Julio (Diego Noguera), is the primary, the pivotal point for the others.

This is a slow moving story and there isn't any outstanding action and/or tension. I expected to soon be bored, especially as it periodically jumped eight years into the past before coming back to the present. Surprisingly, I wasn't bored. Rather I found myself interested in watching this gentle story unfold.

I agree with another commentator who mentioned that the DVD packaging gives the impression that the film is somewhat frivolous. It isn't.

The movie opens in the present with an unemployed Julio trying to find work with a famous author, seeking the job of typing the hand-written notes of the author's latest novel. At the same time, Julio is living alone while having an ongoing affair with his next-door neighbor.

When he fails to get the job, he tells his girlfriend (the next-door neighbor) that he did get it, and then proceeds to write his own novel, claiming it's by the famous author.

While Julio's writing his novel, the movie periodically jumps eight years into the past when Julio was living with Emilia (Nathalia Galgan), the love of his life, a woman he let slip through his fingers. In a real sense, there are two alternating storylines here: present and past. But then the novel Julio's writing is about his ill-fated love with Emilia eight years ago.

Plot/Storyline

The film is a character story of a man who while writing about his ex-lover finally comes to realize what he has lost.

Now not everyone will appreciate this movie, especially those who don't like slow unfolding stories. As for myself, however, I liked it a lot.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.