The Boss, Anatomy of a Crime (Sebastián Schindel, 2014): Argentina, Venezuela

Reviewed by Phill Hunziker, viewed at the Metro 4 Theater, part of the Santa Barbar Film Festival 2015.

This courtroom crime drama is worth your time, but don’t get your hopes up too high. This isn’t going to blow your mind, nor is it going to wrench your heart. It will make you think mildly and become relatively emotionally involved, just not enough to make you feel the dire need to spread the word to everyone you know. It’s good enough to get your attention, but not enough to stick on your mind for long. You get the idea.

The film documents the story of Hermogenes (Joaquin Furriel), a good-hearted butcher who is borderline enslaved by his sadistic greedy boss (Luis Ziembrowski). As a result of this long, almost torturous relationship, Hermogenes snaps completely. Now it’s up to a damn good lawyer (Guillermo Pfening) to prove that this crime was the result of prolonged torture and not a simple treacherous act. That’s quite the intriguing plot, especially when you take into account that it is based on true events. So why doesn’t this film have the impact that you’d expect?

There’s multiple reasons, one being that the director didn’t exactly capture the story the way it could have been. This is his first shot at directing a narrative feature, as all of his previous directing ventures were documentaries. That background in documentary sure is represented in the film’s style. Elizabeth Kerr writes in her review: “Most audiences will expect fiery bench pounding and revelatory declarations, and while those kinds of big budget histrionics are by no means a must, Schindel could use a bit more emotion. We observe Hermogenes’ ordeal, we don’t really feel it.” That is spot on and I believe it is caused by the documentary style that he has become accustomed to. The camera movements, usage of music, the tempo; these styles that appear in the film represent many documentaries I’ve seen in the past. A drama such as this needs more than just a slow portrait of what is happening. I’m not suggesting he should have done the opposite and made it over dramatic, but there just wasn’t enough to sustain the long hour before the dramatic ending.

It did seem, just after the film finished, that the slow buildup was worth it. The final 20 minutes truly are spectacular. The previous hour still could’ve been much more gripping while maintaining its slow pace. The film is also kept alive by the deep, fantastic performances by the whole cast, the heartwarming chemistry between Hermogenes and his wife (Monica Lairana), and the focus on the meat. Seriously, if there’s one thing the director got right, it was the focus on the deteriorating meat. Not only were the sights and sounds of it so gross that you squirm in your seat, they also were a great representation of the deterioration of Hermogenes mental state, both thanks to the greed of the boss.

Again, this film isn’t the most gripping drama you’ll ever watch, but it’s one that’s worth a view. It may hit better with you than it did with me.