Wednesday, April 30, 2003

R

For strong violence, language.

Musical, Romance

Javier Bardem, John Malkovich, Laura Morante, Wolframio Benavides, Juan Diego Botto, Luis Miguel Cintra

Nicholas Shakespeare

John Malkovich

Dancer Upstairs, The (2003)

As a Latin American nation nears collapse under a highly organized terrorist movement, idealistic policeman Agustin Rejas (Bardem) faces the greatest challenge of his career: to catch the mysterious guerilla leader Ezequiel. The brains behind the bloody revolution that threatens to bring the government and entire country down, Ezequiel is as elusive as Rejas’ superiors are corrupt - an irony not lost on Rejas, who left a career as a lawyer to try to find “a more honorable way of practicing the law.” The military’s response to the brutal tactics of Ezequiel’s followers is equally ferocious, creating an atmosphere of mass panic. In the midst of the chaos, Rejas finds respite in Yolanda (Morante), his daughter’s soulfully beautiful ballet teacher. As Rejas draws nearer to the man who considers himself to be the ‘Fourth Flame of Communism,’ he and the dancer he loves will be forced to choose between love, country and self.