Satanas

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Satanás

December 16th 2009 23:35

Satanás (which in Spanish means Satan) is a co-production between Colombia and Mexico, written for the screen and directed by Andrés Baiz. It’s based on the book by Mario Mendoza, which in turn was inspired by the true crime events which occurred in the city of Bogotá, Colombia, in 1986. Known as the Pozzetto Massacre, a Vietnam veteran, Campo Elias Delgado, murdered 29 people including his mother and his teenage English student before shooting dead twenty diners at local restaurant Pozzetto.

In Baiz’s version of events three parallel stories are interwoven; the central narrative follows Eliseo (Damián Alcázar), a lonely, embittered ex-solider in his 40s who still lives with his cranky mother (Teresa Gutiérrez). He visits the library and reads voraciously, his favourite being Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He tutors English to pretty teenaged Natalia (Martina García) and has developed a crush on her.

Damian Alcazar as Eliseo

Ernesto (Blas Jaramillo) is a troubled, conflicted priest who lusts after Irene (Isabel Goana). He tries to console Alicia (Marcela Valencia), a deranged mother who has stabbed to death her three children to save them from poverty, but finds himself wanting desperately for emancipation, and to able to indulge in the sins of the flesh without guilt. Soon enough he and Irene have succumbed to the unbridled pleasure of sex.

Blas Jaramillo as Ernesto

Poala (Marcela Mar) is an attractive market grocer keen to be free of her dull and rigorous life devoid of romance and intrigue. She is approached by two sleazy opportunists, Pablo (Andrés Parra) and Alberto (Diego Vásquez), who make her a proposition: to use her sex appeal to lure rich men whom she’ll slip the Mickey Finn so her accomplices can later extort money from when they’re drugged and incapable of rational thought. They offer her a room free of rent and nice clothes, plus a commission of the takings. They’re straight up, so she accepts.

Marcela Mar as Poala

Eliseo lends Natalija his copy of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde and tells her it has everything you need to know about human nature within its pages. Natalija respects Eliseo immensely and finds the book fascinating, however, when he accepts an invitation to her birthday party he discovers she has a boyfriend and is utterly dejected.

Martina Garcia as Natalija

Ernesto’s path crosses Eliseo when the troubled soldier seeks solace in his church. Ernesto gives Eliseo his phone number in case of en emergency. Poala is abducted by a cab driver and his accomplice and is taken to a garage and brutally raped. Back at her pad Pablo tries to comfort her but she is inconsolable and only wants revenge. Eliseo’s relationship with his concerned mother deteriorates. He phones the priest, but Ernesto is too busy fucking Irene on his kitchen table to answer the phone.

Teresa Gutierrez as Eliseo's mama

One thing leads to another and Eliseo takes a pistol from his drawer and fills the six chambers with bullets and his pockets with more. The first victim is his patronising apartment block neighbour …

Satanas Damian Alcazar and Blas Jaramillo

The killer and the priest

Satanás was sub-titled Profile of a Killer in some countries (including the Australian DVD), which makes the movie sounds far more like a dreary, derivative television movie of the week. It is far from dreary, and by no means the kind of pedestrian material to be found on Sunday night television. This is a powerful and disturbing tale of the corruption of the mind, of morals, of trust, and of faith. It’s a portrait of studied violence; implicit and explicit, and one of the best movies from that area of Latin America.

The Devil's work is never done

Apparently the real killer, Delgado, was found to have been reading Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde before his killing spree, and so it must be assumed he identified heavily with the novel’s extreme case of split personality. In the movie Eliseo is certainly a complex character afflicted with a slow-burning rage, yet countered with a fierce intelligence and a perverse sense of ethics (not to mention his compulsive obsessive cleanliness).

Critical mass

The performances from all the actors are top notch stuff, but especially notable are Damián Alcázar and Marcela Mar. The score by Angelo Milli is strong and brooding and lingers like the haze of the city, as is the striking, yet elegant cinematography and mise-en-scene. Satanás is black as hell, strong as death, and bittersweet as love.