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08/15/2023

Review 'Diogenes': Freedom and Grief in the Debut Film by Leonardo Barbuy La Torre


By Daniel Ruiz (Twitter: @tatoruiz), accredited by CineVista at the Lima Film Festival.

In the debut film by Leonardo Barbuy La Torre from Lima, a man does his best to raise his two children: a 7-year-old boy and a teenage girl. Both are forbidden from leaving the house. This prohibition seems to be more than a capricious rule; it appears to be tied to an intrinsic fear within the father, who has lost his wife. Perhaps he could be a victim of some form of racism or isolation spurred by external rejection. While not explicitly detailed in its reasons, one might guess that it could revolve around these themes. It's not the first time a story has been built upon this premise.

Barbuy La Torre's directorial debut subtly carries a sort of denunciation, although it doesn't neatly fit into that category.

The father, Diogenes, travels to a village in the Peruvian highlands to sell his Sarhua tables. Meanwhile, his teenage daughter takes care of household chores, and the younger son tries not to get bored during long nap sessions or while playing with the animals around him. The atmosphere is one of genuine isolation. One morning, the father is found dead, and it takes his children three days to manage the loss, search for their past, and find their own freedom.

"Diogenes," which had its world premiere at the most recent edition of the Malaga Film Festival, was awarded the Silver Biznaga for Best Ibero-American Film and the Silver Biznaga for Best Director in the Zonazine section. It is a film with minimal narrative aspirations. However, due to its visual proposal, it's utterly captivating.

Far from inducing drowsiness, "Diogenes" is a story with an inherently poetic nature about freedom and its close connection to the idea of growing up and becoming an adult. It also discusses death naturally and, in that context, presents fire as an effective and dramatic vehicle in the grieving process.

It's one of those films best enjoyed in a movie theater due to its monumental work in cinematography (which references the styles of authors like Kim Ki Young, Kurosawa, or Yasujiro Ozu) and sound, which details and enhances the nuances of the environment in which the characters move. Interesting fact: It's a co-production with Colombia through La Selva Cine, the production company of Laura Mora, Daniela Abad, and Mirlanda Torres.

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