Even from the perspective of eclectic American cinephiles Gerardo Naranjo’s 2008 feature is not well known. IFC Films secured the rights for theatrical distribution in the US, but apart from a few festivals and possible one-off showings it’s never appeared in American theaters. Granted IFC Films over the years has acquired quite a strange and diverse collection of films, many of which are not marketed very intensely. When I first started to write this critique, I went to the IFC Films Wikipedia page where it listed all of its releases, and this film didn’t even have a link to its own dedicated page, which subtly conveyed its level of obscurity.
A DVD copy of the film was released by MPI Home Video in 2010 and thankfully it wasn’t too hard to find. According to worldcat.org two public libraries within a 20 mile radius of where I live were holding a copy. Within 40 miles the number of libraries went up to 8. I didn’t have valid card for any of these libraries, so I had to submit an ILL request. In order to express how peculiar the ILL process can be, I received a copy from a college library that’s at least a two and a half hour drive away from where I live. Although in the end I suppose it’s all the same film either way. Currently the streaming options for this title are pretty decent. One can watch this on Amazon Prime, FlixLatino, and the “pay-per-view” version of YouTube among other options.
From the opening frames Voy a Explotar announced itself as a film of its own distinct style and one of a certain swagger. It started with a swift moving montage sequence which boldly introduced us to the main characters and which forcibly grabs one’s attention. There was even some creativity and flair in this sequence, as seen in the ‘stocking cap vision’ shot, whereby the two main characters first notice each other. A later montage sequence detailing the characters’ initial escape was also well staged and made great use of voice over narration. The film managed to extract the best qualities out of both montage sequences. Not only did they provide some artistry and style to the exposition, but they gave the film a certain vibrancy and energy, not to mention a quick pace which suggested a film built on action. The film’s pace also suggested that the events were both exciting and moving rapidly for the characters to such a degree that they did not have complete control of what they were doing and were lead largely by intellectually bereft, hedonistic desires, a theme that would be further established towards the end of the film.
In any case I loved the cinematographic approach used in this film. While hand-held shots and long moving takes are not exactly my favorite style, given the chaos in the story and the impulsiveness of the characters, it complemented the narrative beautifully. It truly set the perfect tone for the film. And it’s not simply a case where the cinematography was in harmony with the story, it often enhanced it. Consider the chase sequence in the open field during the middle portion of the film. Here the camera partook in the same type of craziness that it aimed to capture, creating an immediacy that allowed the viewer to feel as if they are participating in the story along with the performers. Even in some of its weaker moments, like the excruciating long take of the adults in the beginning of the film, the camerawork managed to take center stage. Here the camera’s willingness to wander around without any apparent purpose provided an element of confusion and aimlessness that was perhaps present among the more mature characters.
Probably the one weakness in the cinematography is that it teased you with the potential of a fun, exciting narrative for which the film really didn’t deliver. There were times where I expected the film to go into a Bonnie and Clyde -esque direction, or to at least maintain the adventurous, spur-of-the-moment energy that it had established in the beginning of the film. What I ultimately saw was a film that was far closer in spirit to En el Ombligo del Cielo than what I was initially expecting. As strange and as beautifully ironic as it was for the two leads to plot an escape in order to essentially go nowhere and to stay within shouting distance of the people trying to track them down, it caused the film to lose much of the spirit and forward momentum that it had established in the beginning of story. In addition to this during the brief sequence where Maru had to quickly hide within the house I thought the film might adopt the qualities of a taut thriller, something for which the main characters’ proximity to danger would have easily supported, but even that notion never truly developed.
In the film’s exposition of reckless, deviant, clueless youth there may have been some saliency in the idea that the best way to escape the world was to hide from it, but even then it didn’t make sense for the main characters to choose the hiding spot that they did. All it did was offer a freedom that imprisoned them. There were a lot of moments in the film that really made me question the motivation and ambition of its’ characters. And perhaps one of the more notorious moments came in the film’s ending. When initially watching the film, I wasn’t bothered by how it came to an end. What Maru chose to do felt completely in character and was consistent with how she was portrayed throughout the film, which is a credit to Maria Deschamps for what she accomplished. However when reflecting back on the film a few hours later in a more detached mindset, the ending came across as far more horribly outré and crazy. Of course this did allow the film to regain some of the energy that it had lost in the middle portion of the story. It also offered some opportunity for cult appeal. Another positive aspect of the narrative was the use of spoken voice-over narration from Maru, which is revealed in a way that generated a rather surprising, shocking ending for those who miss the subtle clue about how this is presented. But apart from these elements the story itself could have been more interesting.
As for the acting, it had its moments but it wasn’t exactly spectacular. Few people will ever think of Voy a Explotar as an ‘actors’ film’. To be fair though the cinematography at times wasn’t austere enough to really place the acting at the forefront of the film. A great example of this artistic conflict came near the end of the story where Juan Pablo de Santiago delivered a completely raw and emotionally powerful display of his character’s terror and grief, only to have his effort marred by the film’s desire to capture the flickering, precarious nature of consciousness. When the film did provide some space for the performers there wasn’t a great deal of captivating quality to be seen, especially from the supporting cast who are largely perfunctory and forgettable. One small thing that I did like from the acting though was the complexity in how both Deschamps and Pablo de Santiago portrayed their characters. Despite the chemistry that they develop as a couple of misunderstood outcasts, the relationship was not without its share of turbulence which arose during some petty squabbling over the merits of a film. Deschamps and Pablo de Santiago gave their characters a distinctiveness that allowed them to occasionally challenge each other’s trust. This aspect offered the film its only real source of intrigue, since it’s fairly obvious that no external force could ever threaten the relationship that existed between Roman and Maru.
The writing in regards to the dialogue was surprising excellent, with some decent intelligence and at times poetic insight. Some of the best lines in the film came from the professor, played by Carlos Narro, when he criticized Roman for his actions. There was a downright impeachable honesty in what the professor argued and yet such appeals to rationality were too distressing to really get through to either youthful misfit. Such moments I think gave rise to the notion that these characters too often fled from the truth, casting them as aimless rebels. Had the film managed to develop a more fascinating narrative or perhaps done more to support the actions of the characters, this could have been a truly remarkable film. Given what was actually achieved, Voy a Explotar still has an enticing cinematic style and characters who are charming enough to make the film enjoyable. It also left a very strong, lasting impression in spite of its flaws.