Deficit, first movie directed by Gael Garcia Bernal !

Hey guys,
I've discovered this film a few weeks ago at the Mk2 cinema here in Paris during Paris Cinema Festival. Gael Garcia Bernal even came to introduce the movie.

I've only seen Gael Garcia Bernal in The Motorcycles Diaries which by the way is a great not to say marvellous film. This time, it was a great surprise to see him playing Cristobal a fashinable teen who is fan of underground music. At the beginning, one can see him in a car wearing sunglasses,  a linen scarf over a striped pullover as you can see on the photo below. His parents are wealthy. What they are doing for a living is unknown they are abroad in Europe taking care of some financial issues that do not seem legal. For now, he and his sister Elisa alias Camila Sodi are keeping the house. Her sister is a sort of Hippie, she likes to party, drink alcohol and take majiruana with her cosmopolitan Hippie friends, one from Brazil named Capicu the others Karla, Timoteo, Takuro and kumico from Japan. :)

As their parents aren't there, they spend much of their time doing party and having barbecue.
What is interesting is the character of Cristobal. He is entangled in the scheme his parents made for him starting by attending the same university as his father namely Harvard university. Cristobal is under heavy pressure as he does not want to go to university at all but feels must obliged to do it to have his dad's affection (personal guess so tell me what you think!). One of his friends recalls him of it unwillingly by annoucing he has been accepted in Princeton University. Plus Cristobal has to take care of her sister and the house. Fortunately they have a groundkeeper named Adan who is an important character as well. Cristobal and Adan know each other since childhood but now that he is working for him their relationship begins to change. Adan considers Cristobal as a  friend but the latter treats him like an employee and never stops giving him orders. So much so as newcoming friends arrive at the house, one of them being a cute and hot Argentinian girl, Dolores (Luz Cipriota) for whom they both have eyes for. We see them trying to seduce her which is very funny to watch although we sometimes feel sorry for Adan who is being rejected by everyone except Dolores.

Here is the trailer :

Let us go further and look at the themes in the film. First, the drug aspect. The film is a plea against drugs, for many times we see the negative effects of it through Elisa and her friends. They became agressive, lose control and have some mind expansion. Why do they need to take drugs? Social complex is another theme. Adan is Indian he wants to go to university because he wishes he can get out of his situation and have a better life. Cristobal treats him very badly even if they were friends. Adan has some sort of social complex and a high self-esteem. In a scene we see him insulting some old people who are having a beer on the street calling them bums even if he has just bought some bottles himself... Indeed underneath this primary view lies a much more important topic : youth. Young people are lost in this film, in search of themselves. Cristobal is under pressure, he wants to satisfy his father even if he doesn't like it. They lack a mentor to help them find their way. Someone that understands them like M Schuester from Glee :) or Phil Banks from the Fresh Prince of Bel-air haha just kidding. It is obvious that Cristobal's parents don't know their son that much. They only have expectations for him. As a teenager it is hard to know what to do, what may be right or wrong. 


Technically, I think the film could go further, it reaches its climax at the really end of the movie. We want to know more about the characters. For me it looks unfinished. Maybe I'm expecting too much of it.
If you've seen it, feel free to drop me a line and tell me what you think!

I will put some photos of Garcia at the Paris cinema festival later.
Enjoy!
Vive le cinema latina !

To finish a video of Gael Garcia Bernal coming on the stage to introduce the movie !