Custodio, El (2006)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Rodrigo Moreno

Writer:

Rodrigo Moreno (writer)

Release Date:

6 April 2006 (Argentina)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A bodyguard of a top politician is so dedicated that he's in danger of losing his own identity. |

Plot Keywords:

Politician | Bodyguard | Assassination Attempt

Awards:

18 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Julio Chávez	...	Rubén, el custodio
Osmar Núñez	...	Artemio, el ministro de Planificación
Marcelo D'Andrea	...	Andrea, colaborador
Elvira Onetto	...	Delia, esposa ministro
Cristina Villamor	...	Beatriz, hermana de Rubén
Luciana Lifschitz	...	Sobrina de Rubén
Osvaldo Djeredjian	...	Alfredo Barletta
Julieta Vallina	...	Ángela, amante del ministro
Guadalupe Docampo	...	Guadalupe, hija del ministro
Vanessa Weinberg	...	Rocío, prostituta de Rubén
Marcelo Xicarte	...	Traficante de armas
Francisco Fernández de Rosa	...	cuñado de Rubén
Michel Azogue	...	Francés
Sophie Keisser	...	Francesa
Carlos Cavanna	...	Hombre en restaurante

Also Known As:

Garde du corps, Le (France) (subtitle)
Leibwächter, Der (Germany)
The Bodyguard (Australia) (TV title)
The Minder (USA) (literal English title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

Argentina | France | Germany | Uruguay

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Netherlands:12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Brazil:14 | Norway:15 | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Company:

Ctrl Z Films

Bodyguard...

"Extraño" is the name of the film I saw last year with Julio Chávez in the starring role. Directed by Santiago Loza, it followed the life of a mysterious man and the woman he fell in love with. At eighty minutes or so, the picture seemed too pretentious and desperate to achieve its hour and twenty minutes of duration…With a heavy and repetitive piano as the soundtrack, "Extraño" has a lot of similarities with Rodrigo Moreno's "El Custodio".

It's definitely a less pretentious project, but nevertheless risky. It's hard to get people and critics to like this type of contemplative cinema today, mostly in Argentina. Because contemplation is the best word that suits "El Custodio"; a very strong observation of a minister's (Osmar Nuñez) bodyguard's life. This man is Rubén, a character more silent than Chávez' "Extraño" and "Un oso rojo" together.

If you remember well, Rubén was also the name of the actor's role in the latter movie, a fabulous tale by Adrián Caetano. However, this Rubén required more commitment from the genius, because the mesmerizing portrayal is focused on the patience and the body movement almost completely…Truly; his character barely speaks.

There we arrive to the director's script, which shows the minister Chávez protects discussing politic issues that we don't even pay attention to; since Moreno's writing is more about the environment than about the situation. To be honest, nothing really deep happens in the movie; everything is routine as the main character's life, except for a visit to a country house, where the minister invites a French politician and asks Rubén (who draws) to make a portrait of him. "Very good", they tell him. "Thank you", he says, and he leaves.

Moreno's direction is also about the environment. The man's picture has the biggest count of still shots I'll probably see this year. The repeated frames of Chávez drinking water and following the minister everywhere got him recognition in the festival of Berlin and a lot of nominations to Argentina's most important awards.

What happened is that Moreno's father in-law became a minister, so he decided to join his bodyguards on their daily activities, filming them. "The bodyguards follow the minister; they don't know where he is going…They don't care", Moreno says in a short documentary about "El Custodio". "What happens inside their minds? What do they feel? This is what this movie is about".

The ending is as mythic as the rest of the movie. Something to think about for a while and maybe watch the slow film one more time.