Sunday 31 October 2010

The Night Buffalo (El Bufalo de la Noche) [2006]


Directed by Jorge Hernandez Aldana, and adapted by Guillermo Arriaga from his own novel, The Night Buffalo has earned the wrath of movie goers because of its complex construction, lack of likeable characters, its refusal to explicitly apprise us of the characters’ motives, and its overall “arthouse” sensibilities. Yet, these are essentially the reasons that made me like this movie, apart from appreciating the amount of maturity in Mexican New Wave cinema. This dark, brooding and existential urban drama about the complicated relationship between a young couple who are set on the course towards self-destruction and ultimately redemption, upon the death of a schizophrenic guy integrally related to both their lives. Diego Luna, one of the most admired actors in Mexico today, is compelling as the protagonist, with the entire story being presented through his point-of-view. The film is heavy on its erotic content, and the entire cast, right from the lovely young girl who is the centre of all trouble, so to speak, to the dead friend’s mourning sister, has given unabashed, devastatingly real and extremely competent performances. Excellent photography and leisurely pacing have both played their parts in making this a haunting, albeit an utterly downbeat and disturbing tale of love gone awry and self-discovery.









Director: Jorge Hernandez Aldana
Genre: Drama/Psychological Drama/Urban Drama/Mystery

Language: Spanish

Country: Mexico

3 comments:

Squish said...

Hi there Shubhajit,

October 27th marked the one year anniversary of the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Club. Our gracious host and originator of this club, TheAnswerMVP2001, has put the club on Hiatus since July. Today, four months later, I am messaging you, as one of the original members of the club, to see if you are still interested in continuing the tradition of the 1001 Film club. Lets pick up where we left off, selecting films from the extensive 1001 Movies list for the club members to review, and also occasionally review the films that other members have selected.

Long ago, I decided to make 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die the main focus of my website, and this club was a great way of reading what others had to say on the subject, and I miss it. I would be honoured if you would agree to continue our year-old tradition in the same fashion as TheAnswerMVP2001 ran it. I would be happy to host our discussions on my site at Filmsquish.com.

Please let me know if this is something you'd like to continue. If we get enough people on board, I shall pick up the torch and keep it running.

Please feel free to contact me through the contact form at www.Filmsquish.com

Looking forward to hearing from you,
Squish

Shubhajit said...

Hi, thanks a ton for contacting me about 1001 MYMSBYD Club. It was great being part of the club, second guessing the next movie up for review, posting my review and rating, and seeing the Club score for those films. Therefore, I'm very much interested in continuing to being part of this wonderful, and daresay, highly addictive venture.

I too was saddened when the club's host and originator went into a hiatus. In fact he had contacted me, as I'm sure he contacted others as well, and had wanted to know whether I would like to continue to be part of the exclusive club. And my answer was an unequivocal 'yes'.

Anyway, its great that you'd like to take charge of the affairs and ensure that things start from where it had left off. As I said, I absolutely am interested about this club and would very much like it to continue and flourish. Therefore, as for your question, my answer is again an unequivocal 'yes!!!' You may count on full support from my end.

Thanks again for getting in touch and taking this wonderful initiative!

Squish said...

Thanks so much for your kind words of agreement! I also plan on contacting all the people I've blogged with in the past. I know Answer man was often disappointed in the turn out near the end, so I'll try to widen the net! Either way, Glad to know you're aboard and I'll let you know when It's up and running.