Florentino y el diablo (2000) User Reviews

Labor of love about the Venezuelan "llanos"

[GMeleJr · 7/10 · 4 May 2000]

This film is a low-budget (by necessity) labor of love by Venezuelan director Michael New. It stars his daughter as the female lead, and a couple of known Venezuelan actors, who also worked on the film as a labor of love. It is a slow-moving, poetic film, with typical regional music, and narration in rhyme in the local vernacular. Definitely, an art movie or festival feature, this film still may be a bit too long even for art film lovers. The ambiguous themes of the man fighting eternally against the devil (evil), and man's never ending exploitation of the lands, wildlife and fruits that nature gave us are just too broadly depicted. This combined with the flaws inherent of a production with an extremely low budget mars this film. It has a great concept, but ultimately, it is very tedious.

I choose the Devil

[apollon-6 · 1/10 · 20 May 2008]

In the beginning I thought it would be the next marvelous film made by Latin Americans and the title seemed kind of interesting to me, although I know the saying "Nothing good is for no charge". And I should listen to it because with such a funny, idiotic-looking and bad-singing squealer, all the time I kept my fingers crossed for the Devil. At least, he could sing! It's not a movie for the wide audience, it's a kind of a Venezuelian native folklore and you can feel it only if you're a Venezuelian. I went to watch it at the theater only because it was free of charge. But in the end of the movie I realized the price - my time.