Déficit (2007)

Director:

Gael García Bernal

Writer:

Kyzza Terrazas (writer)

Release Date:

30 May 2008 (Mexico)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Two different social classes get together at a family gathering in Mexico. Based on the TV project "Ruta 32". |

Cast

Fernanda Castillo
Luz Cipriota	...	Dolores
Dagoberto Gama
Gael García Bernal	...	Cristobal
Tenoch Huerta
Juan Pablo Medina
Jorge Luis Moreno	...	Charlie
Pamela Reiter	...	Mariana
Ana Serradilla	...	Mafer
Camila Sodi	...	Elisa
Giovanna Zacarías

Also Known As:

Untitled Gael Garcia Bernal Project (Mexico) (working title)

Runtime:

Canada:79 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Certification:

Canada:14A

Company:

Canana Films

Movie Connections:

Version of "Ruta 32" (2006)

Some affluent Mexican youths spend a "lost weekend"

I just saw this film at the International Film Festival in Provincetown, Mass., where the audience response was tepid to say the least. In short, the film is an astonishing mess -- plot less, desultory, self-indulgent, full of missed opportunities. The director and star of the movie, Gael Garcia Bernal, was there to talk about the film and answer questions after the showing. Tellingly -- but reassuringly -- he spent most of his time apologizing for the film, which he clearly realized is a disaster. That's the reassuring part: he confided that this was a first effort which started as essentially an "acting experiment" and only later took the form of a feature film. To say that this movie somehow gets at class divisions in Mexico is to give it way too much credit. It's mostly about a bunch of spoiled, nasty rich kids who could just as easily have been dropping pills and whooping it up anywhere in the U.S. or Europe. As for the missed opportunity, the one facet of potential interest in the movie is the main character, who's clearly a troubled young man with secrets and lies in his past. But what are they? Here's a young man with looks and wealth and friends to spare, but there's something about him that the movie isn't telling us. We keep expecting to find out, but alas we never do.