| | |  Entertainment | April 2009 
Love, Narcos and Surfing
 Angela Moscarella - The News
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Corruption among Mexico's upper class, one man's search for meaning, ruthless narcos and their stranglehold on a town, the healing power of surfing and two youngsters who fall head over heels in love are the ingredients of "Amar a morir," which hits screens throughout Mexico today.
The movie, director Fernando Lebrija's first feature-length work for which he also wrote the screenplay, takes on some of the thorniest issues in Mexico, but Lebrija said that it is not a social critique.
"I did not write it to convey a message," Lebrija said at a press conference last week.
"If there is a social message it is by accident, because I could not elude this Mexico in which we live in," he said.
The Los Angeles-based film director said drug traffickers and their infiltration of the highest echelons of power have been a part of Mexico for decades.
He said that while he was writing the screenplay he felt he might be exaggerating, but reports about drug war-related decapitations and other acts of violence made his story appear tame. "Reality surpassed fiction - totally," he said.
Still, Lebrija insisted that illegal drugs are only a leitmotif - "brushstrokes" - not the central axis. "This is a romance, more than anything else."
He said drugs were in the movie because it is set in a region of Michoacán where people tend to be poor and turn to illegal crops in order to survive.
NOT WHAT THEY SEEM
The opening scenes of "Amar a morir," are highly effective, capturing the amorality sometimes displayed by Mexico's beautiful people.
Viewers are introduced early on to the movie's hero, rich kid Alejandro Vizcaíno, played by JosAc María de Tavira, who manages to be likeable even though he is initially despicable.
Alejandro is dominated by his father, a banker, who wants his son to follow in his footsteps. Alejandro is already straining at the leash as a shocking incident forces him to flee the capital.
As the movie shifts away from Mexico City, it convincingly illustrates life in a village on the Michoacán coast. Waves are a boon for surfers but there's a dark side to the movie's Eden on the Pacific.
Soon Alejandro runs into Rosa, played by Colombian actress Martina García. Rosa is not exactly what she appears to be, a beautiful carefree young woman who can afford to flirt with a "gA¼erito," or white kid, from the capital.
It's an impossible relationship in more ways than one, and Rosa will lead Alejandro to the biggest test of his life as he decides his love for her is all that matters.
Well-known Australian actor Craig McLachlan also appears in one of the movie's key roles. He plays Nick, a surfer who meets Alejandro during his first night in the town, when they both crash on hammocks on the beach.
FIVE YEARS IN THE MAKING
Produced by Matthias Ehrenberg "Amar a morir" was five years in the making. Financing came from many sources, including golf player Lorena Ochoa.
Although engaging, "Amar a morir" - which won the New Vision award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival - does venture into the clichAc. Scenes with narcos, corrupt politicians, Mexican army soldiers and Catholic priests can become a tad forced. Alberto Estrella as drug kingpin "El Tigre" gives a realistic, but perhaps formulaic performance.
However, the surfing scenes are splendid. At one point, feeling overwhelmed, Alejandro braves the ocean with his board.
Lebrija told The News the scene is autobiographic. After his father's sudden death, Lebrija was devastated, and friends made him surf. Like the character, Lebrija entered the ocean when waves were large and dangerous.
"I didn't care if I died. I wanted to die to be with my father. When I came out I felt completely relieved," he said.
"That's why surfing is so important to me." |
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