The second week of this year’s 13th annual Chicago Latino Film Festival continues with a strong assortment of international films:
– “Entre Marx y una Mujer Desnuda” (“Between Marx and a Naked Woman”) (star) (star) (star) (star) Directed by Camilo Luzuriaga; Ecuador, 1996 (90 minutes). One of the fest’s major surprises is this startlingly inventive and sophisticated, beautifully done film from tiny Ecuador: a portrayal of young friends and political activism in the ’60s packed with wit, energy, passion, intelligence, high style and memorable characters. Seen through the eyes of a young novelist who keeps reinventing his cast and escaping into fantasies, the movie is wildly creative and funny. Fri, April 11, 6 p.m.; Sun, April 13, 6:30 p.m. (Chestnut Station) — Michael Wilmington
– “Como Nacem Os Anjos” (“How Angels Are Born”) (star) (star) D: Murilo Salles; Brazil, 1996 (100 min). A sleazy drug trafficker, his child bride and the girl’s best friend accidentally find themselves in the middle of a kidnapping fiasco, as they hold an American businessman and his daughter hostage in their Rio de Janeiro home. Nice performances by the gun-toting girl and the calm gringo can’t overcome the ridiculous conclusion. Fri, April 11, 6:45 p.m.; Sun, April 13, 4 p.m.; Mon, April 14, 8:30 p.m. (all at Chestnut Station) — John Petrakis
– “Corisco e Dada” (“Corisco and Dada”) (star) (star) D: Rosemberg Cariry; Brazil,1996 (112 min). Set in 1920s’ Brazil, this tale of a bloodthirsty outlaw and his wife who stay a step ahead of an obsessed police chief is short on story and long on brutality. Fri, April 11, 8 p.m. (Chestnut Station) — John Petrakis
– “La Nave de los Suenos” (“The Ship of Dreams”) (star) (star) (star) D: Ciro Duran; Columbia-Mexico-Venezuela, 1996 (96 min). An intriguing story about six stowaways on a ship from Columbia to New York, it’s good enough storytelling that you get to care for the characters, even the ones who come dangerously close to stereotype. Fri, April 11, 8:30 p.m.; Sat, April 12, 6 p.m. (Chestnut Station) — Achy Obejas
– “Besos en la Frente (“A May-December Affair”) (star) (star) D: Carlos Galettini; Argentina, 1996 (98 min). Though it has a good-looking cast and a sprightly script, the story is unbelievable: a widow in her 80s falls for — and chases — a 26-year-old man, seducing him into living in her opulent home. By the end, it’s parody. Fri, April 11, 9 p.m. (Chestnut Station); Sat, April 12, 7 p.m. (Facets) — Achy Obejas
– “Tokyo Paraguaipoa” (star) (star) 1/2 D: Leonardo Henriquez; Venezuela, 1996 (90 min). This offbeat film about a Japanese man who escapes to Venezuela to hide from a crime he’s committed starts out with a bang. But halfway through, the film resorts to mindless violence. Fri, April 11, 9 p.m. (Facets) — John Petrakis.
– “Adao e Eva” (“Adam and Eve”) (star) (star) (star) D: Joaquim Leitao; Portugal, 1995 (104 min). “Adam and Eve” refers to a weekly TV show hosted by a pair of rival journalists who share a lover; the male journalist is married to her and tolerates the affair with the female — who is pregnant. Things are always slightly off-center in Leitao’s look at public and private behavior. Sat, April 12, 4:30 p.m. (Facets) — Achy Obejas
– “Tierra y Libertad” (“Land and Freedom”) (star) (star) (star) (star) D: Kenneth Loach; Spain/U.K./Germany, 1995 (109 min). An often stunning movie about the 1936 Spanish Civil War from one of the world’s great directors. The historical background — the battle between the Loyalists, supported by Stalin, and the battalions of Francisco Franco, supported by Hitler — is a dark maze of world power politics. Sat, April 12, 6:15 p.m.; Sun, April 13, 5 p.m. (Chestnut Station) — Michael Wilmington
– “Santera” 1/2 star D: Solveig Hoogesteijn; Venezuela, 1996 (97 min). “Santera” — about the relationship between a do-gooder Spanish doctor and an Afro-Columbian woman imprisoned for murder — is a shallow excuse to explore and exploit the African-based religion practiced in much of Latin America. Sat, April 12, 7:30 p.m. (Chestnut Station) — Achy Obejas
– “Lena’s Dream” (star) (star) 1/2 D: Heather Johnston and Gordon Eriksen; USA, 1996 (86 min). A day in the Broadway life of a gifted young Latina stage actress who’s been battering against doors of indifference and prejudice for nearly a decade and who now sees almost everything, in her career and relationships, hitting a simultaneous crisis. A mixed bag. Sat, April 12, 9 p.m. (Facets) — Michael Wilmington
– “Aire Libre” (“Out in the Open”) (star) (star) 1/2 D: Luis Armando Roche; Venezuela/Canada/France, 1995 (96 min). One of those films in which history becomes so bizarre, it borders on hallucination. Based on the expedition of Alexander Humboldt and Aime Bonpland in the Venezuelan jungles and rivers in the late 1700s, the movie mixes eroticism, adventure, melodrama and social comment. Sun, April 13, 6 p.m.; Mon, April 14, 6:45 p.m. (Chestnut Station) — Michael Wilmington
– “Hola, Estas Sola? (“Hi, Are You Alone?”) (star) (star) (star) D: Iciar Bollain; Spain, 1996 (94 min). An engaging Spanish comedy about two girls and their romantic adventures and family misadventures in Madrid, Malaga and Valladolid and on the roads between. (Closing night/awards ceremony; buffet and cocktail reception at 5:30 p.m.) Mon, April 14, 7:30 p.m. (First Chicago Center Theater, Dearborn at Madison) — Michael Wilmington
– Repeat showings (Check last week’s Friday section for reviews): “Tierra” (“Earth”) (star) (star) (star) 1/2 Sun, April 13, 9 p.m. (Chestnut Station); “Ilona Llega con la Lluva” (“Ilona Arrives With the Rain”) (star) (star) (star) Sat, April 12, 9:30 p.m.; Mon, April 14, 8 p.m. (Chestnut Station); “Bajo la Piel” (“Under the Skin”) (star) (star) (star) Sat, April 12, 10:15 p.m. (Chestnut Station); “El Verso” (“Smooth Talker”) (star) (star) (star) (star) Sun, April 13, 8:15 p.m. (Chestnut Station); “La Ultima Cena” (“The Last Supper”) (star) (star) 1/2 Sun, April 13, 4:30 p.m. (Facets); “La Muerta de un Burocrata” (“Death of a Bureaucrat”) (star) (star) (star) (star) Sun, April 13, 8:30 p.m (Facets); “Fresa y Chocolate” (“Strawberry and Chocolate”) (star) (star) (star) (star) Mon, April 14, 6:30 p.m. (Chestnut Station); “Ricardo, Miriam, y Fidel” (star) (star) (star) Mon, April 14, 9 p.m. (Chestnut Station).
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(Chestnut Station Multiplex is at 850 N. Clark St., and Facets Multimedia is at 1517 W. Fullerton Ave.; call Chicago Latino Cinema at 312-431-1330.)
