Imaginalia is a free film club held at Fremantle Buffalo Club – projecting a movie in a bar, basically – that finished up their first program, which had included screenings of Cruising (1980) and Effi Briest (1974). The organiser and programmer, Juan Mora, is from Colombia and selected for the last night of Program 1, a Colombian movie, Rodrigo D: No Future (1990), a film that I’d not heard of before. In his introduction, Juan explained the filmmaking context and history in Colombia, and how director Victor Gaviria was supported by a German producer and worked with non-actors from Medellin, earning trust from the youth who were often involved in crime and violence.
Rodrigo D: No Future has a propulsive energy through the Colombian punk music scoring the wandering of Rodrigo (Ramiro Meneses), a young teenager who is restless and pours that restlessness into a fixation on becoming a punk drummer. Getting access to drums is a challenge, and the opportunity for music to be a force for expression is underscored by the plight of those without resources or money. Other young boys in Rodrigo’s orbit wander as well, though are mainly involved in petty crime to earn money, such as robbing in wealthier areas, taking motorcycles or cars to sell them to a buyer.
Gaviria’s approach to this hopelessness doesn’t feel exploitative. In comparison to other films of this type, he doesn’t revel in the amorality or the violence. We hear about one boy’s abduction by an unmarked van, potentially police disappearing someone out of revenge for a shot officer. We don’t see it. Bodies are often discovered in fields, and is an everyday part of Medellin existence. Yet the characters are still troubled by the casual death and violence, even when they wield it. One memorable scene is when a boy – who has been hiding out in fear of organised retaliation – cannot handle the isolation and visits his aunt late at night, wanting to go for a walk and smoke. Following in the tradition of neorealism, Rodrigo Lalinde’s camera is observant, and often places the characters against the expanse of Medellian’s cityscape, the houses throughout the hills.
Aimless and episodic, Rodgrio D: No Future ends depressingly in a sense of hopelessness, capped off by a closing credit acknowledging the deaths of several actors involved in the filming, victims of misfortune before the film was able to be released. Well worth seeking out. Recommended.
Keep a look out at Fremantle Buffalo Club for the future return of Imaginalia.
VHS Tracking 