Tag Archive | "Museo"

Tags: , , , , ,

FLICKS: Museo & Love, Gilda

Posted on 20 September 2018 by LeslieM

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Museo and Love, Gilda open this weekend. While both are diverse movies, both movies present pure drama with a touch of comedy, a dose of thrills and maybe a few tears.

A hit at the Berlin Film Festival, Museo is a film with international acclaim set in Mexico. It is the holiday season and Juan Nunez (Gael Garcia Bernal) is bored with simmering anger. Observing the lax security at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, Juan recruits his friend Benjamin (Leonardo Ortizgris) to rob the museum on Christmas Eve.

With relative ease, Juan and Benjamin steal over 140 treasures and artifacts. The heist becomes an international sensation in 1985, for many of the stolen objects are priceless artifacts from the Mayan culture. Due to the notoriety of the crime, the young criminals have a hard time trying to fence the objects for payment.

Unlike the film noir conventions of The Asphalt Jungle or Heist, Museo presents a travel log of adventure. The stolen artifacts are presented as shimmering treasures that are misused by the crooks. One scene of debauchery features Juan drinking alcohol from a cup that may have been used by Montezuma. Montezuma’s revenge is not presented, but Museo reaches a thought-provoking and satisfying climax.

RE: Love, Gilda — It was post Halloween in 1975 and Channel 12 WPEC presented too many commercial interruptions of Son of Frankenstein on Creature Feature. Frustrated, I switched the dial and tried this new show, Saturday Night Live. Candice Bergen was the guest star, with a new cast of unknowns (known as The Not Ready for Prime Time Players). Among the unknowns, there was Gilda Radner, who appeared both vulnerable and tough enough to take a funny pratfall.

Gilda Radner died a month short of her 43rd birthday from Ovarian Cancer and young people today may just know her because a sick relative may visit Gilda’s Club for comfort. However, this new documentary, Love Gilda, presents videos of what made this comedian so successful, respected and loved.

Through home movies, we see a chubby girl from a well-to-do Jewish family in Detroit. Using comedy as a defense for her insecurities, Gilda becomes the class clown and excels in performing. Moving to Canada, Gilda finds work on the musical Godspell (despite her initial inability to sing) and is noticed by the Second City and National Lampoon comedy troupes. Using her personal diary as a narrative thread, Love Gilda is not just a celebration of her life. Through laughter, Love Gilda shows how one can achieve victory over his or her own mortality.

Comments Off on FLICKS: Museo & Love, Gilda

Advertise Here
Advertise Here