Octubre
(October)
Directed by Daniel Vega Vidal & Diego Vega Vidal
Peru, 2010
Cornerhouse, 23 March 2011
Another weird and wonderful Peruvian film, so rejoice!
A baby is left at the home of Clemente, a pawnbroker: the fruit, apparently, of a liaison between himself and a prostitute. So now he must either find her (the mother, that is) or care for her (the baby, an adorable girl). It’s a quest movie, yes, yet it’s also about social connection, the human heart.
The pawnbroker is played by Bruno Odar, and a fantastic actor he is too. Deadpan as all hell, he never cracks a smile here. In essence what we have is a portrait of a man whose every social interaction involves money (he pays prostitutes for sex, he eats in restaurants, he rides in taxis) and then he receives this wonderful child, who’s a gift and a miracle.
Does the child change the man or is she like a dud banknote, received through absent-minded oversight, which he cannot get rid of? Is the child a miracle to be cherished or an inconvenience, yet another sign that the world and its people are not to be trusted?
Octubre is a rich and rewarding film, full of unexpected pleasures and treasures.
Jildy Sauce 