Days of Santiago

Mendez' feature debut tells the story of Santiago Roman a young soldier of the Peruvian Navy who returns home to Lima after years of fighting in the jungle. Back in Lima it is impossible to find work or to finance getting an education. Like a modern day Travis Bickle, Santiago has to support himself as a taxi driver. He drifts along aimlessly in Lima, befriends a group of young girls in his computer class, deals with family problems and goes out dan cing in night clubs, but he ends up being frustrated by the hopelessness of it all.
In a carefully composed voice-over the audience gets to experience what it is like for
Santiago to be back from the fighting. Mendez skilfully lets the dialogue from a previous scene accompany a present scene, thus giving the film a multi-layered perspective in an early and yet effective way.
The film is carried up by main actor Pietro Sibille's impressive performance. Although he rarely changes his expression during the whole film, his intense face manages to convey all the emotions that Santiago is feeling.
Days of Santiago has received numerous awards, amongst them the Best Film and FIPRESCI Jury Award at the Fribourg International Film Festival.

ANDREA REUTER

Premiärstatus
Nordisk premiär: Orig. titel
Dias de Santiago: Medverkande
Pietro Sibille, Alheli Castillo, Erick Garcia: Producent
Enid Campos: Manus
Josué Méndez: Foto
Juan Durán: Musik
Manuel Larroche: Talat språk
Spanish