Marimbas from Hell

A very interesting game with audience expectations. While synopses say reading the film could be offered as another extraordinary contribution to the "zero to hero" genre, it is in fact a bitter and even documentary depiction of the impossibility of revolt in contemporary Guatemala. There are a few scenes that make you smile (the first rehearsal with Black in particular is a wonderful display of poker face humor), but otherwise the film bets exclusively on a completely immobile camera, which sometimes frames the characters strangely, as if they were just side decorations, while the main aspect lies in the smitten textures of the poor and dirty periphery. It works for a long time (it is precisely the principle of the poker face that is extremely imaginative about the film), but soon the impression prevails that Cordon’s characters completely disappear from the film, and the meaningful plot, and everything ends with one great tragicomic futility. The final dedication to all those who try to promote something interesting in a country that does not want differences largely sets the record straight - there is no doubt that this is precisely the sense of impasse and boredom the director was seeking in the first place. Marimbas from Hell is by no means a grateful audience film or pure unconventional comedy, but rather it is a special non-dramatic formation on the border between a documentary and a film that conveys a certain degree of passivity, which can be rather unpleasant for the viewer... It sometimes moves on the edge of dilettante (a strangely focused camera), but at its core I tend to believe that this is part of a program testimony about contemporary Guatemala. Thus, Marimbas from Hell is worth seeing, although it should be stressed that the film’s passivity balances on the edge of tolerability. (31/03/2011)