"To Kill A Man" (2014 release from Chile; 82 min.) brings the story of a family somewhere in Chile who are the victims of pestering, and eventually much worse, by the neighborhood thugs. After an initial shooting incident, the main thug is sentenced to 1 1/2 years in jail. The movie then jumps forward two years, and the thug and his cronies decide to extract revenge on the family. To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience of this plot-heavy movie, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: "To Kill A Man" immediately recalls the theme from "Death Wish", yes, the Charles Bronson 1970s vigilante movie(s) where Bronson takes justice in his own hands. "To Kill A Man" is essentially the same, but brought and done in a completely different fashion of course. Indeed, writer-director Alejandro Fernández Almendras is NOT making an action movie, he is instead bringing a psychological study on what it means to kill a man. It doesn't surprise then that the last 20-25 min. of the movie become more and more surreal, as if in a dream. Check out the excellent interview with the director in the DVD bonus materials, in which the director gives great insights on the movie, including that he "composed the movie like paintings". So true. Check out several key scenes in the second half of the movie, each lasting several minutes, that are filmed from a single angle. The camera just observes and lets us take it all in. I love it. I should also mention that the tension rarely lets up in the movie, and that at just over 80 min., this went by in a flash. Last but not least, the acting performances are great, most of all from Daniel Candia as our main guy Jorge. I admit that I had not heard of him (or any other performers) before this movie.
This movie was the August, 2014 release in the on-going series of Film Movement's DVD-of-the-Month Club of foreign and indie movies, and the DVD will be released to the public at large in February, 2015. If you are in the mood for something entirely different than the comic book action hero movie of the week that Hollywood keeps serving up endlessly this summer, you cannot go wrong with this. "To Kill A Man" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Couple of comments: "To Kill A Man" immediately recalls the theme from "Death Wish", yes, the Charles Bronson 1970s vigilante movie(s) where Bronson takes justice in his own hands. "To Kill A Man" is essentially the same, but brought and done in a completely different fashion of course. Indeed, writer-director Alejandro Fernández Almendras is NOT making an action movie, he is instead bringing a psychological study on what it means to kill a man. It doesn't surprise then that the last 20-25 min. of the movie become more and more surreal, as if in a dream. Check out the excellent interview with the director in the DVD bonus materials, in which the director gives great insights on the movie, including that he "composed the movie like paintings". So true. Check out several key scenes in the second half of the movie, each lasting several minutes, that are filmed from a single angle. The camera just observes and lets us take it all in. I love it. I should also mention that the tension rarely lets up in the movie, and that at just over 80 min., this went by in a flash. Last but not least, the acting performances are great, most of all from Daniel Candia as our main guy Jorge. I admit that I had not heard of him (or any other performers) before this movie.
This movie was the August, 2014 release in the on-going series of Film Movement's DVD-of-the-Month Club of foreign and indie movies, and the DVD will be released to the public at large in February, 2015. If you are in the mood for something entirely different than the comic book action hero movie of the week that Hollywood keeps serving up endlessly this summer, you cannot go wrong with this. "To Kill A Man" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!