Two Shots Fired | Martín Rejtman | New York Film Festival 2014
Two Shots Fired begins with 16-year-old Mariano (Rafael Federman) hanging out at a rave. It’s a stark contrast to the next scene, which fines him at home alone, where he goes for a swim and mows his lawn. A problem with his lawnmower brings him to his garage where he tries to find a tool to fix it, but finds a gun tucked away instead. He brings the gun to his room and shoots himself in the head and the stomach. Miraculously, and curiously, Mariano survives his suicide attempt, with the bullet miraculously only grazing his head, leaving a hole in his wall. Strangely enough the bullet in his stomach in never found, seemingly disappearing into thin air.
Mariano’s actions concern his mother Susana (Susana Pampin) who has trouble sleeping after the incident, removing all dangerous and sharp items from the house and burying them in their backyard. When his family and friends ask Mariano why he tried to take his life he assures them he isn’t depressed, remarking that it was an impulse caused by the hot weather. Oddly enough, aside from his mother, no one else really makes a fuss about the suicide attempt. Life continues on for all involved, with the event mostly pushed to the side, except for when he sets off the occasional metal detector.
This strange tone carries on throughout the film, which starts with Mariano’s decision and soon weaves out to side vignettes about those surrounding Mariano. We see his brother Ezequiel (Benjamín Coehlo) encounter an odd romantic relationship, and see his mom venture on a spur of the moment vacation along with Mariano’s flute teacher Margarita (Laura Paredes) and an off-putting character named Liliana (Daniela Pal). There’s also a few humorous bits with the flute quartet that Mariano is in. It all a bit disjointed and absurd.
Argentinian director Martín Rejtman (who also wrote the script) seems to wander around the world he creates without much meaning. It meanders through its bleak deadpan world without a sense of reasoning or purpose. There’s some dark humor thrown in, but it doesn’t do enough to combat the general unbalanced nature of Two Shots Fired that left me rather puzzled and uninspired.
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