Under the Antioquian Sky (Bajo el cielo antioqueno). 1925. Directed by Arturo Acevedo Vallarino.

(8/3/01)

I really didn't like this film very much. Part of the reason is probably that, although ballyhooed as a major restoration, the film was shown in an unattractive print that looked as if it had been patched together from a number of prints of varying quality.

It is certainly interesting as a panoramic view of Colombian, or upper-class Colombian, life in the 1920s. We see a convent, the streets, a well-to-do household, a courtroom, a cruise ship, the coffee fields. And the film is interesting from that standpoint. But I didn't find the characters or the story particularly interesting.

It has a very slow beginning in which the heroine is brought home from the convent. Alicia Arango de Meija plays Lina, the heroine, who instead of being full of life just seems silly. The scene in which she hides in front of--not underneath--her father's desk while he reads a letter from her beloved which she has just left for him just seems ridiculous.

There were a couple of interesting moments, however. Lina elopes with her beloved, but changes her mind when she meets a beggar woman who had done the same. She gives the woman her jewels in appreciation. Ironically--and horribly--this act of generosity causes the woman's death for she is murdered for those jewels.

The hero hits a black boy with his car, then brings him home to recuperate. The lad is not terribly hurt and has a few good moments as he enjoys the hospitality of the wealthy household.

It is difficult to judge the attitude of this film to its material. This may be due partly to the poor quality of the print, but also perhaps that it addressed an audience of a different time and place who no doubt understood (or "read") it quite differently than I do.