Hugo Diaz Movies

Arthouse favorite Olivier Assayas followed up his critical darling L'Heure d'Été (2008) with this wildly different chronicle -- a biopic of the ultra-left-wing Venezuelan terrorist-cum-mercenary Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, popularly known as "Carlos the Jackal." As co-written by Assayas and scenarist Dan Franck, the account spans the years 1973-1994 -- or the period that witnessed Sanchez at his most violent and relentless. Narrative touchstones include the 1974 bomb attack at the Publicis Drugstore on Paris' Left Bank and the 1975 abduction of 11 OPEC officials from Vienna, as well as a torrent of assassinations that Carlos and his cronies planned but didn't carry out. As produced by Daniel Leconte, this telling of Sanchez's life stars Edgar Ramirez as the terrorist, as well as Alexander Scheer, Aljoscha Stadelmann, and Julia Hummer; it was predominantly shot in Germany, France, and Lebanon. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Argentinean writer/director Pablo Trapero (El Bonaerense, Crane World) takes to the road in Rolling Family. Emilia (Graciana Chironi) is the matriarch of a family living in Buenos Aires. When she learns that her sister's daughter is getting married, she gathers the whole family for a trip to her hometown of Misiones, on the border of Brazil. One of her daughters, Marta (Liliana Capuro), is married to Oscar (Bernardo Forteza). Marta calls him "Fatso," and he owns the RV the family uses for the trip. They have a teenage son, Gustavo (Raul Viñona), and a little boy, Matias (Nicolás López). Their older daughter, Paola (Laura Glave), ends up joining the party at the last moment when she tearfully walks out on her druggie boyfriend, Claudio (Federico Esquerro), and shows up on the family's doorstep in tears with her infant son. Also on board is Emilia's other daughter, Claudia (Ruth Dobel), and her husband, Ernesto (Carlos Resta). They bring their teen daughter, Yanina (Marianela Pedano), who brings along a friend, Nadia (Leila Gomez). Complications arise as soon as the trip begins. In addition to the problems that might be expected (car trouble, a run-in with the police), relationships get tangled. The boy-crazy Yanina aggressively pursues her cousin, Gustavo, who is more interested in Nadia. Claudio catches up with the family on his motorcycle, and gets into an altercation with Oscar. Things get even more heated when Ernesto begins flirting with Marta, his sister-in-law. All these problems surface with the entire family jammed into a small space, putting the entire trip in jeopardy. Rolling Family was shown by the Film Society of Lincoln Center at the 2004 New York Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi