In the States, at least, it may seem odd to make a bitterly funny movie about glum working people caught in the crossfire of political upheaval and state-sanctioned murder. But Pablo Larra�n pulls it off with Post Mortem, a modest, mordant little drama set in 1973 Santiago, Chile, just as a military coup is spelling the end for democratically elected President Salvador Allende and setting the stage for the ascent of dictator Augusto Pinochet. If you were a Chilean citizen in the middle of all that, you probably wouldn?t be smiling much, and sure enough, Larrain?s protagonist here, a dour coroner?s assistant named Mario, sets the tone for the movie from the beginning: He?s a gaunt, living ghost, with lank, longish blonde-gray hair ? he?d almost be hip, if only he had the energy.
As the movie opens, whatever problems Mario (Alfredo Castro) has seem to be of the personal sort. We see that he?s a regular at a local cabaret ? the faded, crackled letters on its fa�ade read ?Bim Bam Bum? ? and learn that he?s infatuated with one of the dancers, Nancy (Antonia Zegers), an enervated-looking girl with hollowed-out eyes that nonetheless know how to calculate. Nancy is Mario?s neighbor, although they meet for the first time when Mario steals backstage one day, just as Nancy is being fired by her boss for being too skinny. He introduces himself tentatively. ?Hello, neighbor,? she responds, eyeing him as a cat surveys either a mouse or another cat ? it?s hard to say which.
Mario and Nancy don?t exactly court ? it appears she has a hunky Communist activist boyfriend, which presents something of an obstacle. But Mario's tenderness toward her is clear: He prepares plates of food for her, hoping to tempt her to eat. When…
Janet Jackson January Jones Jennie Finch Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Gareis Jennifer Garner Jennifer Gimenez Jennifer Love Hewitt
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