Neruda | Pablo Larraín | NYFF 2016
Neruda, the latest film from Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín, acts as a biopic with a dramatic fantasy spirit. It focuses on the life of revolutionary Chilean poet and politician Pablo Neruda (Luis Gnecco), who is one the run as a fugitive after communism becomes outlawed in 1948.
Although the film is entitled after the Chilean poet, the film is actually told from the perspective of someone else entirely. Written by Guillermo Calderón, the script guides viewers along with voiceover narration of a (fictional) detective named Óscar Peluchonneau (Gael García Bernal). He’s sent by President Gabriel González Videla (Alfredo Castro) to hunt down Neruda, who has gone underground in hiding with his wife Delia (Mercedes Morán), yet is also still showing up casually at lavish parties nearby, mocking both the President and those assigned to hunt him, such as our narrator.
It becomes an odd game of cat and mouse, with Neruda teases the detective, leaving him clues and almost getting closer on purpose – simply for the thrill of it all. There’s a light-hearted comedic feel to their interply, an almost meta wink from Larraín and Calderón about the detective looking to make his mark by catching Neruda, the man who supposedly created him. There’s an odd dynamic to their relationship, almost in the sense that they need each other and this ruse to keep going.
There’s an oddness to the route that the filmmaker takes in telling this and although it didn’t always work, when it did, it was credit to the marvelous performance of its two leads. Luis Gnecco gives Neruda a mysterious yet confident portrayal, a confident man with a great curiosity as well. The real star of the show was Gael García Bernal who gave a great deal of life and eccentricity to his fictional detective character. Bernal is totally likable in the role and connects to the audience in a way that elevated the otherwise hit or miss narrative navigation.
While the pacing of the film struggled a bit in the beginning, it finds its footing along the way and really hits its stride during the climax. It’s somewhat too little too late, but the charming performances from it’s two leads, the fitting score of Federico Jusid, and the stunning cinematography of Sergio Armstrong, only work in its favor.
I didn’t totally connect to the method of storytelling of Neruda and never quite came under its spell in the way that I hoped. I admire Larraín for thinking outside of the box and offering up a creative way of storytelling, that is for sure undeniable, but I just wish that I connected to it all a little bit more.
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