It’s difficult to know how seriously we should take Oliver Stone’s SOUTH OF THE BORDER. Certainly the effort Stone has invested in making the film and his commitment to the power and value of filmmaking might be reason enough for our attention. Stone cleverly invites us to let down our guard with his casual style as interlucutor. He invites us to relax along with him as he jokes, plays soccer and kicks back with his buddies Hugo, Nestor and Raul. How could we be skeptical or suspicious of this home movie or see the featured Latin American heads of state as anything but regular guys in shirt sleeves with their own common sense about governance, trying to do the best they can. When challenged during the post-screening panel by Cynthia Arnson, Director of Latin American Studies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, Oliver asked her, “What don’t you like about Hugo?”
The shooting style is almost amateurishly casual with wide framings revealing all of the technical trappings and suggesting, “See, we’re not hiding anything.
Oliver Stone as the Voice of (Latin) America
Stone says the film is getting better reception and distribution than they expected, so look for it later this year.
Time is running out, and so are the tickets. So make plans to see as many films as you can during the last three days of Silverdocs 2010.
