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29 commentaires au total

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26 utilisateurs sur 32 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Disturbing, but very good, 8 avril 2005

Auteur : bastetg4 de Phila, PA

It's hard to rate a movie that you find intensely disturbing and a bit nauseating. I saw this at the Philadelphia Film Festival, and the friend who saw it with me was equally disturbed - we both wanted to give it a rating of F***ed Up. Then again, if you spend the next two hours talking about how much a movie bothered you, that means it was well acted and directed, right?

The reporter (Leguizamo) crosses the boundaries of morality and goes too far in pursuit of his story, and the movie ends on a very unsatisfactory note. Still, the bad guy is very good at being a psychopath, and the reporter and his crew are very good at being morally bankrupt. See Cronicas, but brace yourself for unpleasant subject matter.

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24 utilisateurs sur 29 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Nice try, 3 mai 2005

Auteur : Chris Knipp de Berkeley, California

Young Ecuadorian director Sebastián Cordéro's "Crónicas" begins and mostly sustains itself as good intense fictional coverage of what can happen when corrupt, sensationalistic journalists in Latin America cover a crime wave far from home base and encounter what even for them are obvious moral conflicts when they attempt to exploit it.

A Mexican news team out of Miami goes to cover the search for "the Monster of Babahoyo," a pedophile serial killer in the province of Los Rios in a remote part of Ecuador. A violent incident in the street when the team arrives in Babahoyo puts their reporter in contact with somebody who may be a victim of public hysteria, or may be the killer. Crónicas never gives you time to think and screws up its suspenseful situation into a tight knot and then lets go and drops you. Somewhat ironically the result feels very like the first episode of a sensational TV miniseries. The film would have been better if it had stepped back occasionally and let us and the story breathe. A haunting opening sequence of a man alone bathing and washing clothes gives a hint of how that might have happened.

The news people are serviceable stereotypes: photogenic lead reporter Manolo Bonilla (John Leguizamo); his sexy female producer Marisa (Leonore Watling), who soon hops into bed with him; his raunchy, substance-abusing cameraman Ivan (José María Yazpik), who has to keep pointing out that they're all supposed to be a team. To lend cred and support to the movie and give them a boss there's Alfred Molina in the background phoning in as Miami anchorman Victor of a fictitious news show, "Una Hora con la Verdad," seen and heard only on tiny TV screens and ever-present cells. Haunting the news team as it prances around and threatening a confrontation that never really materializes is "the only honest cop in Latin America," who happens to be the local police captain and seems to have a lot of time on his hands which he spends tracking the news team and reminding them they're not following the rules. Such reminders are feeble since they're free to fly out whenever they want and have plenty of money to bribe low level cops. Besides that Manolo is asked for his autograph constantly and greeted as a hero for things he now wishes he hadn't done.

Director Sebastián Cordéro's best move in "Crónicas" is to try to build a serial killer who's not a spooky Hannibal Lector type super-villain but a human being whom his victims trust and other people like. Cordéro makes real headway at achieving that goal by choosing the pitiful, sweet-faced Damián Alcázar to play Vinicio Cepeda, the "witness" in prison who may be the suspect. Where Vinicio fits in winds up being too clearly telegraphed, but the best scenes are still the ones where Vinicio gives creepy, insinuating testimony to Manolo (away from Ivan's camera) and bargains for his life.

What also makes "Crónicas" worth watching, if you can stomach the theme and don't mind the simplifications and lack of modulation in the sequences, are the grittily authentic local backgrounds: messy hotel rooms, grungy prison cells, chaotic streets, shantytown dwellings. These give the in-your-face story a sense of authenticity that isn't entirely undercut by the stereotypes and the pumped-up action. What doesn't quite work is a screenplay that gets everything going full speed from the first reel and never lets up till it just walks away leaving you waiting for the next gripping episode.

(Seen at the San Francisco Film Festival, May 3, 2005)

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29 utilisateurs sur 41 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Sebastian Cordero's big step!, 30 septembre 2004

Auteur : andrea_ordonez de Equateur

In case you are not familiar, Sebastian's first big movie was Ratas, Ratones y Rateros. That was a great movie, it showed a side of Ecuador that hadn't been explores or showed before. He had the magic of showing a probably not unique story in a unique way, a Latin and Ecuadorian way.

In Cronicas, he does this and more. First, it shows a reality that may even be unknown for some Ecuadorian. It escapes from big cities and nice stories towards the forgotten towns that are only remembered for unethical journalism or plain mockery. Second, now it is not just a story showing themes particular to a Latin audience but applicable and important for viewers anywhere: masks and the true self, the blurry gray region between good and bad, the relevance of regret... and more.

One friend told me, before watching the movie: You will not see TV the same way again. In many ways it is true, Cronicas takes you to the untold and un"spelled-out" stories behind the fractioned images in TV.

I am looking forward to Sebastian's next movie.

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14 utilisateurs sur 17 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
A Tough Look at the Responsibilities of Tabloid Journalism, 18 juillet 2005

Auteur : noralee de Queens, NY

"Crónicas" is an updated, Latinization of Billy Wilder's cynical 1951 film "Ace in the Hole (The Big Carnival)," where a tabloid reporter selfishly manipulated an emotional story of a trapped miner.

Where films like "Medium Cool" and "The China Syndrome" showed reporters as heroes getting radicalized by the stories they are covering, writer/director Sebastián Cordero effectively creates a hot, grimy, gritty environment for an ethically-challenged tabloid TV reporter who gets too mired in a serial murder investigation in the slums of Equador that recalls the hysteria and circus around the Atlanta child killings.

The irony of the power of today's ubiquitous media is shown to searing effect, including the power to manipulate it for personal purposes by all sides. The cat and mouse negotiations between the reporter and a questionable source (the enthralling Damián Alcázar) are as tense as those in "The Silence of the Lambs," and in an ugly environs that we can practically smell through the screen.

John Leguizamo is completely believable as a swaggering, self-promoting celebrity TV reporter for a popular show covering scandals across the southern hemisphere, flitting from his Miami base to drug lord hostages in Columbia to salacious murders, in and out of English. We are alternately sympathetic to his efforts and his bouts of conscience, then repelled by him.

He is flanked by somewhat stereotypes of a lanky, battle-hardened cameraman who eagerly focuses on close-ups of violence and gore and an ambitious woman producer who plunges into research and infidelity with equal verve, who utilize the most shiny, high tech communications gear to capitalize on their tunneling through the muck of human nature, though even they finally reach their ethical boundaries.

The focus is kept tightly on the reporter's responsibilities, as the producer comments ruefully: "We got the only honest cop in Latin America." The script and the camera certainly play with us, in edits of slowly revealed information that change our impressions of the facts, and as the reporter tensely tries to both get a scoop and do as much of the right thing as his ambitions allow.

As an intelligent thriller, this film certainly puts a brutal spin on the issue of a reporter protecting his sources, even as the worst of the implications happens off camera.

The background song selections fit the mood, though I have some feeling that the Spanish lyrics had significance.

The English subtitles had some errors.

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11 utilisateurs sur 14 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Children murdered in Ecuador, 10 octobre 2005

Auteur : Red-125 de Upstate New York

Crónicas (2004) written and directed by Sebastián Cordero, is a grim movie about a grim subject. John Leguizamo plays Manolo Bonilla, a Miami-based TV reporter who is covering the story of a "monster" who is torturing and murdering young children in Ecuador.

Manolo is a good detective as well as a reporter of sensational news, and he thinks he may have discovered the identity of the murderer. The question is, Should a reporter just report, or should he be a participant in the story he is covering?

Leonor Watling is excellent as Marisa Iturralde, Manolo's producer and possibly his lover. Camilo Luzuriaga is excellent in the supporting role of Capitan Bolivar Rojas--"the only honest cop in Ecuador."

This is not a movie for the squeamish--it contains violence, scenes of humiliation, and graphic--but unromantic--sex.

On the other hand, how often do you find a movie from Ecuador playing in Rochester, New York? Even at our excellent Little Theatre, films from South America are rare, and often--as in this case--worth seeking out.

Finally, if the views we get of prison conditions in Ecuador are accurate, I wouldn't even risk a parking ticket there, let alone anything more serious. Trust me--you just don't want to be in that particular Ecuadoran jail.

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14 utilisateurs sur 20 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Austin Movie Show review, 6 août 2005

Auteur : leilapostgrad de Austin, TX

*** Ce commentaire peut contenir des spoilers ***

Remind me never to be a journalist in South America. Not only are you putting your physical well being in danger, but the psychological trauma must be unbearable! John Leguizamo gives the strongest performance of his career as Manolo Bonilla, a Miami journalist who goes to Ecuador to investigate a serial killer called "The Monster" who has raped and murdered over a hundred children.

Cronicas opens with the funeral for three of the latest victims. When a child runs into the street and is hit by a car, the driver of that car, named Vinicio, is attacked by a mob that beats him, douses him in gasoline, and sets him on fire. All the while, Manolo is filming every second of the attack, but he eventually intervenes and saves the man's life.

Vinicio is sent to prison where he covers himself in his own excrement to keep from being attacked by other inmates. Manolo offers to help Vinicio get out of prison if he gives him information about "The Monster." Through the power of the media and the sway of public opinion, Vinicio is set free. But has justice actually been served, or has this reporter helped to free a vicious serial killer? Cronicas is dark, twisted, and positively rife with dramatic irony… the kind that makes you want to scream at the screen, "Noooooooooooooo!!!!!!" But the actors never listen, do they?

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9 utilisateurs sur 12 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Great movie!, 31 janvier 2006

Auteur : ltgavilanes de Etats-Unis

Thank you for bringing up the story about the terror that affected many Ecuadorian families. I think the actors did a great job, they were very convincing. I watched the movie with my American girlfriend and she was very moved. However, I am from Edcuador and I lived in Guayaquil when those crimes happened. The real name of the the killer was Daniel Barbosa Camargo and his real nickname was the Monster of the Andes. There were a couple of things that did not match the time frame when that happened. First of all, the flip flap cell phones were not invented then. Second of all, I am willing to bet that the bar where the actors were drinking at, did not have a color TV but an old beat up black and white TV set. I was a little disappointed with the end of the movie. I thought they were going to show at least in writing what happened to the Monster after he was incarcerated like the fact that he was killed inside prison and more than likely tortured like hell before that happened. A very important issue that could have been part of the movie was the fact that at the time there were conspiracy theories, stories about a dark SUV that was picking up the victims and also the theory that there were more than just one killer. Nobody in Ecuador believed at first that such a little fragile looking man like Camargo could have committed all those crimes. I hope that in the future you can make another film and continue with the story in a more realistic manner. I am open for comments if you need my assistance. Best regards.

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10 utilisateurs sur 14 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
An Interesting Examination on the Power of the Media, 29 janvier 2005

Auteur : Michael Welch de Etats-Unis

*** Ce commentaire peut contenir des spoilers ***

I had the chance to see Crónicas at the Sundance film festival this week, and was very impressed. The film relates to the story of a Latin American reporter and his crew who are investigating a serial rapist in Ecuador. When a man claiming to have insight into the murders hits and kills a young boy with his truck, he proposes to the reporter an exchange: information on the murders for a favorable report on the accident. The reporter, played by John Leguizamo, agrees to the arrangement. As new evidence is unearthed, a troubling conflict of interest emerges...

This film uses its location in Ecuador to great effect, evoking the personality and character of a small Latin American village. The murder mystery genre is well explored in this interesting, taut thriller. I had particular respect for how the director ended this film, refusing to settle for a clean resolution, opting instead for a more complex (and truer to life) finale.

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11 utilisateurs sur 17 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
If it's seen on television, it must be true!, 22 juillet 2005

Auteur : jotix100 de New York

*** Ce commentaire peut contenir des spoilers ***

The power of the sensational media is examined in this film by Ecuadorian director Sebastian Cordero. He has created a disturbing piece of film making, almost a documentary, in style, that examines how unscrupulous journalists manipulate the news. "Cronicas" is a tough movie to sit through, but perhaps that's Mr. Cordero's achievement. The film will make one think.

"Cronicas" takes us to the interior of Ecuador. There is a pederast running wild in the countryside raping and killing innocent children. An investigating reporter, Mannolo Bonilla, is sent to investigate about the case. Bonilla is based in Miami, where he no doubt contributes to those sensational types of programs directed to Latinos in which a lot of blood and gore is the norm for some of those Spanish channels.

Manolo Bonilla is a man who has seen a lot. That is why when Vinicio's car kills one young boy, he is taken by the mob before the police arrive and he is set on fire. Manolo instructs his cameraman to keep on filming because that item will run prominently in Victor's program. Vinicio is saved by the police, who take him to jail together with the people who tortured him, and the father of the boy who was killed.

Bonilla suspects Vinicio of being the famous Monster of Babahoyo. The problem is that Vinicio is a cunning man, who might be the one killing the children. When he interviews him, Bonilla thinks he has unearthed the truth, but through mixed signals, Victor goes ahead with the story and Vinicio is made to appear as a victim and is released from prison. In the end, Bonilla leaves the country as a hero, but little does he know he has contributed to perpetuate the killings that will continue because the real culprit is at large.

John Leguziamo has one of the best moments of his career as the journalist who passes through all these troubled areas capturing for the camera and interviewing people who will have to deal with their own reality in their environment, whereas Manolo Bonilla will return home to Miami and will probably forget about what he has seen.

Damian Alcazar is Vinicio, the bible salesman with a lot in his conscience. He is a troubled soul who is in denial and don't recognize his guilt. Mr. Alcazar gives a great performance. Leonor Watling is Victor's wife and a producer of the news program. Alfred Molina is only seen on his television program, but doesn't have much to do.

The cinematography of Enrique Chediak captures the misery and the substandard conditions of the area where the film takes place. The haunting music by Antonio Pinto enhances the action. Ultimately, the director Sebastian Cordero is to be congratulated for clarifying for us the concept that if it is seen on television, then, it must be true what we are being shown, and it's the truth, even if it is manipulated one.

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4 utilisateurs sur 5 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Intense & Confronting drama-thriller., 16 mai 2007

Auteur : Coventry de the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls

Crónicas is more than just another lame and wannabe provocative satire that wants to prove how the media and charismatic reporters are capable of influencing people's opinions and emotions. In fact, it does handle about that, but it's definitely not a dumb satire. It's a harsh and harrowing social drama, set in an ultimately depressing environment and focusing on the inhabitants of a country that the pubic opinion usually neglects. Here is one foreign film production that Hollywood isn't likely to remake any time soon, and even if some fancy producer would consider a remake, you can rest assured that the content and especially the whole denouement will be changed drastically. The story entirely takes place in a small village in Ecuador, where a feared psychopath has already sexually abused and killed nearly 150 innocent children. New mass graves are discovered almost on a weekly basis and the petrified community fears the murderer will never be caught. The acclaimed Miami TV-reporter Manolo Bonilla, on location with his crew to shoot a documentary on the issue, prevents a man from getting lynched by an angry mob when he causes a car accident involving a young boy. Whilst in prison, the man provides Bonilla with a lot of detailed information concerning the murders and the reporter quickly becomes obsessed with the idea of catching the killer himself. In exchange for further information, Bonilla promises the man to do an emotional TV-show about his wrongful imprisonment. "Crónicas" benefices from a powerful first half hour and especially the climax sequences are ultimately fascinating and shocking. Unfortunately the middle-section of the film is somewhat sluggish and dull, but at least you can admire the beautiful filming location and the genuinely moving acting performances of the overall unknown cast. The film contains several unsettling images of violence and human misery, but the unconventional ending is far more shocking & disturbing than on screen violence could ever be. And you can even despise the characters for their action, because deep down you realize you'd do exactly the same. This film isn't a masterpiece, but it's definitely a film you won't forget easily.

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