ROJO
BENJAMIN NAISHTAT | ARGENTINA | 2018 | 109 MIN | NR | SPANISH W/ ENGLISH SUBTITLES
Set in the mid-1970s—a period in which Argentina was gripped by political unrest and a wave of mass disappearances—ROJO is the story of respected small-town lawyer and family man Claudio (Dario Grandinetti), whose comfortable life starts to fall apart after a violent altercation with an unhinged drifter. Confident that the disturbing incident is firmly behind him, Claudio gets back to business as usual. Yet a string of unsettling events suggest that something sinister is encroaching: A solar eclipse briefly bathes the nation in eerie, blood-red light, an eccentric TV detective shows up to investigate a missing person, and what seems at first like a straightforward potboiler gradually shifts into Lynchian nightmare territory. All the while, a pervasive air of distrust and incipient violence suggests that Claudio’s personal unraveling is only part of a nationwide moral breakdown. Vividly evoking the 1970s through period-specific art direction and strikingly stylized cinematography, director Benjamín Naishtat has concocted a thriller that’s both rigorous and richly entertaining.
The screening will be preceded by a short introduction by Alan McPherson, Professor of History at Temple University and author of the upcoming book Ghosts of Sheridan Circle: How a Washington Assassination Brought Pinochet’s Terror State.
Cast: Dario Grandinetti, Andrea Frigerio, Alfredo Castro, Diego Cremonesi
Toronto International Film Festival – Platform Competition
San Sebastian Film Festival – Best Director, Best Actor
“Superbly sinister and stylish.” –Variety
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Tickets are FREE, though donations to Philadelphia Film Society are welcome. Tickets to this event (with or without donations) do not guarantee admission. Please arrive 30 minutes prior to start time. At Scheduled start time any unfilled seats may be released.