Bonsái (2011)

Director:

Cristián Jiménez

Writers:

Cristián Jiménez (written by)
Alejandro Zambra (novel)

Release Date:

9 November 2011 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A young writer recounts an earlier romance in hopes of attracting his new love interest. |

Plot Keywords:

Love | Writer | Vomit | Writing | Neighbor

Awards:

3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Diego Noguera	...	Julio
Nathalia Galgani	...	Emilia
Gabriela Arancibia	...	Bárbara
Trinidad González	...	Blanca
Hugo Medina	...	Gazmuri
Alicia Rodríguez	...	Alumna de latín
Andrés Waas	...	Claudio
Alicia Fehrmann
Paola Lattus	...	Vendedora
Ingrid Isensee	...	Vecina
Julio Carrasco	...	Poeta excéntrico
Cristóbal Briceño	...	Hippie
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yeny Manson	...	Irma

Directed by
Cristián Jiménez

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Cristián Jiménez		written by
Alejandro Zambra		novel

Produced by
Bruno Bettati	....	producer
Natacha Cervi	....	co-producer
Pandora da Cunha Telles	....	co-producer
Julien Deris	....	associate producer
David Gauquie	....	associate producer
Julie Gayet	....	producer
Pablo Iraola	....	co-producer
Nicolas Lesage	....	associate producer
Hernán Musaluppi	....	co-producer
Nadia Turincev	....	producer

Original Music by
Caroline Chaspoul
Eduardo Henríquez

Cinematography by
Inti Briones

Film Editing by
Soledad Salfate

Casting by
Soledad Gaspar

Art Direction by
Jorge Zambrano

Costume Design by
Mary Ann Smith

Production Management
Geoffroy de Boissezon	....	post-production supervisor
José Luis Rivas	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Catalina Büchner	....	third assistant director
Paz Ramírez	....	second assistant director
Waldo Salgado	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Rodrigo Guerra	....	art producer
Francisca Kelter	....	set dresser

Sound Department
María Elisa Canobra	....	boom operator
Cristián Freund	....	sound editor
Ivo Moraga	....	foley artist
José Palma	....	boom operator (as José Ignacio Palma)
Manu Robles	....	sound mixer
Jean-Guy Veran	....	sound mixer
Jean-Guy Veran	....	sound re-recording mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Michelle Bossy	....	still photographer
Sergio Béjares	....	d.i.t
Carlos Johnson Veillon	....	still photographer
Pablo Monsalve	....	second assistant camera
Marco Morales	....	electrician
Cristián Petit-Laurent	....	first assistant camera
Claudia Serrano Navarro	....	first assistant camera
Carlos Vargas	....	gaffer

Casting Department
Mauricio Grez	....	casting assistant
Jorge Quagliaroli	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Alex Salazar	....	costume assistant

Music Department
Cristian Heyne	....	music supervisor

Transportation Department
Jorge Peters	....	driver

Other crew
Astrid Aburto	....	production assistant
Carlos Bertrán	....	production assistant
Daniela Espinoza	....	location manager
Miguel Machalski	....	script editor
Antonia Olivares	....	script supervisor
Joséphine Schroeder	....	assistant to producers
Nicole Senerman	....	making-of
Claudia Tomassini	....	international publicist
Gerson Valenzuela	....	production assistant

Thanks
Antonio Arbea	....	special thanks
Hugues De Chastellux	....	special thanks
Marie Dubas	....	special thanks
Georges Goldenstern	....	special thanks
Ingrid Isensee	....	special thanks
Xabi Molia	....	special thanks
Astrid Scheuch	....	special thanks
Emmanuelle Taylor	....	special thanks
Andrés Waissbluth	....	special thanks
Ximena Zavala	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Jirafa
• Rizoma Films (co-production)
• Rouge International
• Ukbar Filmes (co-production)

Distributors

• Strand Releasing (2012) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• UFO Distribution (2011) (France) (theatrical)
• Ukbar Filmes (2012) (Portugal) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

Chile | Argentina | Portugal | France

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:Not Rated | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Santiago, Chile

Company:

Jirafa

Interesting though somewhat boring

Bonsai

Like the gentle life of a bonsai plant, the love of Julio and Emilia grows slowly, survives delicately, and eventually, dies quietly. Director/writer Cristian Jimenez tells the mildly humorous story of the young Chilean couple's first relationship which sustained by literature, sex, and a complacent enjoyment of one another's presence as the days slowly drag on.

Julio, a monotonous yet thoughtful university student first catches Emilia's eye at a small party in their seemingly motionless Chilean town. It seems that the time they first hook up is almost completely out of boredom, as the party is dying down, and they simply have nothing better to do. This passionless, comedic hookup leads to a playful, albeit sedated relationship that revolves around sex and literature.

Jimenez uses a consistent, 8-year flashback and flash-forward from Julio's college life with Emilia to his adult life as a struggling, very much alone writer. Julio remains a static character throughout his life in terms of his passive, sarcastic demeanor as well as his tendency to constantly tell lies.

Julio's lies are not serious, though they always catch up with him, undermining his relationship with Emilia as well as his ability to connect with those around him. Julio's first lie is in class, when a literature professor asks all the students who had done the assigned reading to raise their hands. As students slowly raise their hands surrounding him, Julio cluelessy gazes around and meekly raises his hand. This first, awkward and hilarious lie shows how Julio chooses the path of least resistance and foreshadows his future passionless relationship with Emilia.

Julio's tendency to lie follows him into adult hood. He makes an offer to transcribe the novel of a well-established author, Gazmuri, onto the computer but is rejected, as his price is too high. He needlessly tells his current partner and neighbor, Blanca, that he had received the job. He begins writing his own novel by hand and for some reason, transcribes it to the computer when he is around Blanca. He titles the novel Bonsai, by Gazmuri, a loose autobiography of his past relationship with Emila. For some odd reason, he goes so far as to change his style of writing to cursive and to purposely spill tea and cigarettes on his notebooks in order to feign the authenticity of the journals.

The story is riddled with literary references as well as an on going bonsai plant theme, which acts as a metaphor for the relationship that Julio and Emilia share as college students. In Julio's novel, he blatantly compares a relationship to a bonsai plant in a number of ways. To grow a bonsai, one must tie down the plant's branches in order to imitate the weight of snow in nature. The mildly depressing comparison is drawn to his own past relationship with Emilia, in which the two unceremoniously tied themselves down and took on each other's burden in order to remain together.

Julio also makes a more cheerful and meaningful metaphor regarding the bonsai plant: once a bonsai plant is removed from its pot, it will no longer be a bonsai, but will grow like a normal plant. The connection here is that in order for a relationship to last, it must have a strong foundation. For Julio and Emilia, their relationship actually begun when they both found out they shared a strong love of literature. Unfortunately for them, they discovered this by both lying about having read a book by Proust, in order to seem like authentic literati. Despite quiet hilarity of them both attempting to discuss the pros and cons of a book that neither of them has read, this small lie along with a few others results in the eventual demise of their tender relationship.

The overall message of Julio's story is quite complex and meaningful though possibly too complex some. Many of the countless references went right over my own head, though the more learned members of the audience definitely enjoyed the esoteric, literary jokes and metaphors and were laughing right along at key moments. Bonsai is obviously a must for bibliophiles, and despite catering to a select audience, overall, the story is quite attractive nonetheless, is edited and shot beautifully, and is an honest and fascinating look at first love lost. The story does roll out slowly, so be ready for a leisurely look at Julio's life.