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Fuckland
Fuckland (2000) is an Argentine comedy-drama film. It was written and directed by Jose Luis Marques. The picture was executive produced by Diego Dubcovsky, and produced by Edi Flehner and Mariano Suez.
The film was shot on digital video and is the first Latin American film to follow the avant garde Dogme 95 movement minimalist guidelines.
Plot
The film takes place decades after the Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom for the control of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean.
The film tells of Fabian Stratas, a magician from Buenos Aires, who saves his money from weddings, birthdays, and bar mitzvahs, and uses a hidden camera to document a week-long trip to the Falkland Islands, , where he has an ingenious Argentine patriotic plan: to impregnate a Falklander woman.
Stratas has a theory: if only 500 Argentines did the same each year, the islands would soon be overrun with half-Argentines, and he would be the head of a "sexual invasion." Brilliant idea, he thinks.
He spends his first couple of days on the island doing reconnaissance, and soon sets his eyes on Camila Heaney, whom he first saw in church.
He chats her up at an Internet cafe and then they go out for drinks, which is followed by dinner. They also take a field trip to the see the King penguins and the 1982 battlefield.
Heaney gets the last word, denouncing him for the shallow Argentine he is.
Background
The picture was recorded illegally in the Falkland Islands in 1999, and was made without the permission of the local government.
The film features only seven professional actors. They improvised their scenes with local residents, who were not made aware that they were taking part in the production of a feature film.
Actress Camilla Heaney was not told of Stratas' motivations for their romance before their scenes were shot. Deming, Mark. All Movie Guide, via the New York Times.
The picture did break a few of the Dogme 95 guidelines: the use of music and the directorial credit given to Jose Luis Marques.
Filming locationsThe film was filmed on location in Stanley, Falkland Islands.
Cast
Fabian Stratas
Camilla Heaney
Distribution
The producers used the following taglines to market the film:
A clandestine movie.
Una pelicula clandestina .
The film opened wide in Argentina on September 21, 2000.
The film was presented at various film festivals, including: the London Film Festival, London, England; the Jeonju Film Festival, South Korea; the Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia; the Flanders International Film Festival, Belgium; and the Sundance Film Festival, Colorado in 2001.
Critical reception
The film was hit hard by critics. While some called it subversive and libelous, others like critic Christopher Null thought it boring. He wrote, "While a few of our hero's 'smooth moves' are mildly entertaining, most of the film is filled with the monotony of his daily rituals. He does a few magic tricks, gets a haircut, brushes his teeth, takes a piss. Some of this is in focus. Fuckland indeed." Null, Christopher. FilmCritic, 2002.
The ''Village Voice'sAmy Taubin tough the film was not noteworthy on any level, writing, "Fuckland'' is less interesting for its adherence to the Dogme rules than as a failed attempt at director Jose Luis Marques's project of 'Real Fiction Filmmaking'...Unfortunately, the fictional premise of Fuckland is so absurd, it doomed the enterprise from the start." Taubin, Amy. The Village Voice, "Argentinas Criminal Lovers," April 23, 2001.
External links
Fuckland at cinenacional.com .
Fuckland review at Cineismo by Guillermo Ravaschino .
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Fuckland
