At the conclusion of 'The Summit' the viewer may ask himself "What was the point of that?"
Newly-elected Argentine President Hernán Blanco is in a Chilean mountain resort attending a meeting of South American Heads of State to discuss forming an exclusively-South American version of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Hernán commands little respect back home (indeed, if she watches this Theresa May will find distinct parallels) and to make matters worse he is just about to become embroiled in a corruption scandal orchestrated by his embittered son-in-law. His media-sensitive advisers' decision to remove his daughter from the reach of journalists by hauling her to the summit backfires when her mental problems resurface. As well as dealing with her and the conflicting priorities of the strutting President of Brazil and his remarkably foul-mouthed Mexican counterpart, Hernán also becomes an object of interest to the Americans, keen to muscle in on the new organisation. What's a President to do?
Oil may be important, but it makes for dreadfully dull discussion at a summit, even with the heavy layer of almost comical anti-Americanism evident here. The sequences involving Hernán's daughter are more interesting, although contribute to the confusion this viewer felt as to the intended purpose of the film: is it a political pot-boiler, or a family melodrama? (Alberto Iglesias' musical score does not help matters: it gets so dramatic and foreboding that at times I was half-expecting an alien to burst out of Hernán's stomach.) Dividing the film between the two strands means neither of them gets enough attention.
As played by Ricardo Darín, Hernán comes across as a nice bloke (although if I correctly understood the meaning of his final summit vote that is open to question). He is, at least, a well-rounded character. Almost all the others are merely one-dimensional stereotypes: the cynical and coolly-efficient political advisers, the arrogant politicians, etc. Even Hernán's daughter is presented as little more than a problem - although the viewer can understand her frustration as her personal life becomes subservient to her father's political ambitions - something risked by the children of any politician.
Ultimately, what I will remember most about this film is the snow-covered mountain scenery of what was, according to IMDb, Argentina, not Chile. Spectacular.
Newly-elected Argentine President Hernán Blanco is in a Chilean mountain resort attending a meeting of South American Heads of State to discuss forming an exclusively-South American version of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Hernán commands little respect back home (indeed, if she watches this Theresa May will find distinct parallels) and to make matters worse he is just about to become embroiled in a corruption scandal orchestrated by his embittered son-in-law. His media-sensitive advisers' decision to remove his daughter from the reach of journalists by hauling her to the summit backfires when her mental problems resurface. As well as dealing with her and the conflicting priorities of the strutting President of Brazil and his remarkably foul-mouthed Mexican counterpart, Hernán also becomes an object of interest to the Americans, keen to muscle in on the new organisation. What's a President to do?
Oil may be important, but it makes for dreadfully dull discussion at a summit, even with the heavy layer of almost comical anti-Americanism evident here. The sequences involving Hernán's daughter are more interesting, although contribute to the confusion this viewer felt as to the intended purpose of the film: is it a political pot-boiler, or a family melodrama? (Alberto Iglesias' musical score does not help matters: it gets so dramatic and foreboding that at times I was half-expecting an alien to burst out of Hernán's stomach.) Dividing the film between the two strands means neither of them gets enough attention.
As played by Ricardo Darín, Hernán comes across as a nice bloke (although if I correctly understood the meaning of his final summit vote that is open to question). He is, at least, a well-rounded character. Almost all the others are merely one-dimensional stereotypes: the cynical and coolly-efficient political advisers, the arrogant politicians, etc. Even Hernán's daughter is presented as little more than a problem - although the viewer can understand her frustration as her personal life becomes subservient to her father's political ambitions - something risked by the children of any politician.
Ultimately, what I will remember most about this film is the snow-covered mountain scenery of what was, according to IMDb, Argentina, not Chile. Spectacular.