The Dancer Upstairs, 2002
In a South American country (which I never caught, but perhaps was intentionally unnamed?), a police detective, Rejas (Javier Bardem) is on the hunt for an elusive revolutionary who seems to be at the center of increasingly disturbing and brutal attacks. Complicating his investigation is the corrupt government around him and his interest in his daughter's ballet teacher (Laura Morante).
Bardem once again proves that he is a capable lead, and he has that particular gift of not having to say much to imply depths beneath the surface. His character feels very real: a man who is not himself corrupt, but who does not choose to fight the corruption around him. His past life as a lawyer has shown him some of the worst of his country (he represented a young rape victim whose family was later terrorized until she fled to Miami--the perpetrator of the rape was the country's current president), and we see a man doing the best he can in his corner of the country.
The central story--that of the dangerous revolutionary--was a mixed bag for me. At its best, it reflects the way that corruption can perpetuate from generation to generation. Rejas has the personal experience of his family's farm having been seized by the military. In a country where indigenous and vulnerable people have constantly been trod underfoot, you can see how the sparks of a revolution would catch.
On the flip side, the portrayal of the revolution at times didn't quite mesh with what we see of the characters. The terrorism as portrayed in this film not only uses violence as a means to accomplish its goal, it seems to revel in cruelty. Children are used as suicide bombers. The film blurs the line between people pushing for revolution and people under the thrall of someone more akin to a cult leader. Because the antagonist is kept off screen for almost all of the runtime and because his followers do little more than yell slogans, we are never given insight into how this man has marshaled an army of seemingly sensitive and empathetic people into committing violent atrocities (and animal cruelty). Sometimes the film is able to leverage this seeming contradiction, as in a scene where Rejas tries to help a mortally wounded young woman who even in her death throes violently rejects him. But for the most part the dynamics of the revolution are too vague.
This is a well-acted, solidly directed film, but the story lacks the fire or momentum it needs to make it truly engaging.