Jeanskynebu
the audience applauded
Freaktana
A Major Disappointment
Odelecol
Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
gradyharp
Crónicas is a terse, highly atmospheric movie that begins with a terrific idea but then doesn't seem to now where to go with it. The director Sebastián Cordero himself admits that the ending was nebulous until one of the actors (Leonor Watling) suggested a way to make the film work. The notes for the alternative ending demonstrate how flimsy this screenplay was, even into the final edit. So it is a film that begins well then loses its way in the mud of Ecuador.Manolo Bonilla (John Leguizamo), a upwardly mobile TV journalist seeking stardom, has traveled to Ecuador with his assistant Marisa Iturralde (Leonor Watling) and cameraman Ivan Suarez (José María Yazpik) to cover the story of the 'Monster of Babahoyo', a serial rapist and murderer of small children. As they are filming a strange man Vinicio Cepeda (Damián Alcázar) has wandered into town and during the paparazzi effect of Bonilla's crew filming the mass funeral of the latest victims of the 'Monster'. Vinicio inadvertently runs over the twin of one of the victims resulting in an outrage by the father of the twins and a beating of Vinicio. Both are jailed and Manolo learns from the incarcerated Vinicio that he has secrets about the Monster. Seeing the chance for a 'Big Story' that will assure his stardom Manolo pursues the fragments of evidence about the Monster until little by little he 'uncovers' the truth. And the truth is terrifying.Along the bumpy script road there is a love affair between Marisa (Ivan's girl!) and Manolo, communications with the Miami TV show Victor Hugo Puente (Albert Molina, whom we only see on a TV screen), and distractions from the townspeople and police. At times the storyline feels so jumbled that it is difficult to keep characters and motivations straight. But in the end this is a rather powerful indictment about the TV/media aggressive insertion into global reporting and the questionable ethics involved. The cast is strong, making the best of a mediocre script. The camera work seems to enjoy the endless preoccupation with poverty and inclement weather and the bleak atmosphere becomes wearing. This is a film with a good idea that just becomes a bit crippled in production. Grady Harp
BronzeKeilani26
Unlike most of you I just seen it on DVD which gives us 2 shocking endings to choose from. I'll stick to the one shown at the festival. This is a great movie with great acting from everyone, even the foreigners. Very intense & it took me on an emotional roller coaster ride. I couldn't take my eyes off the movie anticipating the next scene. Leguizamo was great and has always been a great actor in drama roles. He was brilliant in this role as a reporter. The ending will leave most of us depressed imagining what child victims actually go thru when these monsters victimize them but the director chose to keep it real and we have to appreciate that. It will put something on your mind long after the movie ends but well worth watching. Very, very intense. Some parts will leave you feeling creeped out but it's a thrilling ride!
jotix100
The power of the sensational media is examined in this film by Ecuadorian director Sebastian Cordero. He has created a disturbing piece of film making, almost a documentary, in style, that examines how unscrupulous journalists manipulate the news. "Cronicas" is a tough movie to sit through, but perhaps that's Mr. Cordero's achievement. The film will make one think."Cronicas" takes us to the interior of Ecuador. There is a pederast running wild in the countryside raping and killing innocent children. An investigating reporter, Mannolo Bonilla, is sent to investigate about the case. Bonilla is based in Miami, where he no doubt contributes to those sensational types of programs directed to Latinos in which a lot of blood and gore is the norm for some of those Spanish channels.Manolo Bonilla is a man who has seen a lot. That is why when Vinicio's car kills one young boy, he is taken by the mob before the police arrive and he is set on fire. Manolo instructs his cameraman to keep on filming because that item will run prominently in Victor's program. Vinicio is saved by the police, who take him to jail together with the people who tortured him, and the father of the boy who was killed.Bonilla suspects Vinicio of being the famous Monster of Babahoyo. The problem is that Vinicio is a cunning man, who might be the one killing the children. When he interviews him, Bonilla thinks he has unearthed the truth, but through mixed signals, Victor goes ahead with the story and Vinicio is made to appear as a victim and is released from prison. In the end, Bonilla leaves the country as a hero, but little does he know he has contributed to perpetuate the killings that will continue because the real culprit is at large.John Leguziamo has one of the best moments of his career as the journalist who passes through all these troubled areas capturing for the camera and interviewing people who will have to deal with their own reality in their environment, whereas Manolo Bonilla will return home to Miami and will probably forget about what he has seen.Damian Alcazar is Vinicio, the bible salesman with a lot in his conscience. He is a troubled soul who is in denial and don't recognize his guilt. Mr. Alcazar gives a great performance. Leonor Watling is Victor's wife and a producer of the news program. Alfred Molina is only seen on his television program, but doesn't have much to do.The cinematography of Enrique Chediak captures the misery and the substandard conditions of the area where the film takes place. The haunting music by Antonio Pinto enhances the action. Ultimately, the director Sebastian Cordero is to be congratulated for clarifying for us the concept that if it is seen on television, then, it must be true what we are being shown, and it's the truth, even if it is manipulated one.
Chris Knipp
Young Ecuadorian director Sebastián Cordéro's "Crónicas" begins and mostly sustains itself as good intense fictional coverage of what can happen when corrupt, sensationalistic journalists in Latin America cover a crime wave far from home base and encounter what even for them are obvious moral conflicts when they attempt to exploit it.A Mexican news team out of Miami goes to cover the search for "the Monster of Babahoyo," a pedophile serial killer in the province of Los Rios in a remote part of Ecuador. A violent incident in the street when the team arrives in Babahoyo puts their reporter in contact with somebody who may be a victim of public hysteria, or may be the killer. Crónicas never gives you time to think and screws up its suspenseful situation into a tight knot and then lets go and drops you. Somewhat ironically the result feels very like the first episode of a sensational TV miniseries. The film would have been better if it had stepped back occasionally and let us and the story breathe. A haunting opening sequence of a man alone bathing and washing clothes gives a hint of how that might have happened.The news people are serviceable stereotypes: photogenic lead reporter Manolo Bonilla (John Leguizamo); his sexy female producer Marisa (Leonore Watling), who soon hops into bed with him; his raunchy, substance-abusing cameraman Ivan (José María Yazpik), who has to keep pointing out that they're all supposed to be a team. To lend cred and support to the movie and give them a boss there's Alfred Molina in the background phoning in as Miami anchorman Victor of a fictitious news show, "Una Hora con la Verdad," seen and heard only on tiny TV screens and ever-present cells. Haunting the news team as it prances around and threatening a confrontation that never really materializes is "the only honest cop in Latin America," who happens to be the local police captain and seems to have a lot of time on his hands which he spends tracking the news team and reminding them they're not following the rules. Such reminders are feeble since they're free to fly out whenever they want and have plenty of money to bribe low level cops. Besides that Manolo is asked for his autograph constantly and greeted as a hero for things he now wishes he hadn't done.Director Sebastián Cordéro's best move in "Crónicas" is to try to build a serial killer who's not a spooky Hannibal Lector type super-villain but a human being whom his victims trust and other people like. Cordéro makes real headway at achieving that goal by choosing the pitiful, sweet-faced Damián Alcázar to play Vinicio Cepeda, the "witness" in prison who may be the suspect. Where Vinicio fits in winds up being too clearly telegraphed, but the best scenes are still the ones where Vinicio gives creepy, insinuating testimony to Manolo (away from Ivan's camera) and bargains for his life.What also makes "Crónicas" worth watching, if you can stomach the theme and don't mind the simplifications and lack of modulation in the sequences, are the grittily authentic local backgrounds: messy hotel rooms, grungy prison cells, chaotic streets, shantytown dwellings. These give the in-your-face story a sense of authenticity that isn't entirely undercut by the stereotypes and the pumped-up action. What doesn't quite work is a screenplay that gets everything going full speed from the first reel and never lets up till it just walks away leaving you waiting for the next gripping episode.(Seen at the San Francisco Film Festival, May 3, 2005)
