Bonsai

A Chilean Character Study About Idealized Romance And The Writing Process
The Chilean film "Bonsai" is an experience that completely confounded my expectations. I try not to be unduly influenced with how a film is being marketed, instead I like to let it unfold naturally. But, in this instance, I do need to reference how Cristian Jimenez's work is being portrayed in its North American DVD release. The cover art (and its tag line) intimate that this is going to be a quirky comedy, perhaps of a romantic bent. The whimsical graphic, however, has little to do with the actual movie. Although there are elements of comedy, "Bonsai" is a rather serious contemplation of idealized romance and the writing process. There's certainly nothing wrong with that. In fact, it's a lovely film in many ways. The DVD looks so frivolous and lightweight, however, that I just wanted to mention what I thought was a slight disconnect in marketing.

"Bonsai" is a story that takes place over alternating timelines. The contemporary thread introduces our hero (a deadpan...

Small trees, Poetry, Novel Writing in Chile and Proust - What's not to like?
This is a film by Christian Jiminez based on the book by Alejandro Zambra and it comes from Chile. It was premiered at Cannes and despite a theatre release in both the UK and USA in March went pretty quickly to DVD. It is about Julio who is into literature and we meet him as a student where his reticence to learn Proust is not seen as an aphrodisiac by the woman he wants Emilia. So his literary juices have to start flowing before any others can.

The story then moves on eight years and we meet an older, though equally lazy, Julio who is now with his soul mate. He is approached by a well known author who asks him to transcribe his latest novel as he has written it by hand. Well Julio asks a price but it is too high and so he don't get the gig. He has pretended that he still doing the job and so decides to write to novel himself sharing it with his friend, who becomes his aid and critic without knowing it is his work.

The film keeps going back in chapters eight...

Beautiful, mesmerizing and funny, but too slow for most movie fans
Bonsái is a very, VERY low-key comedy plus dreamy meditation on the nature of memory and of literature - and of bonsai - admittedly NOT most movie-goers' cup of tea. The only action is fairly frequent sex, but even that is more drolly amusing and detached than erotic.

The central place Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past occupies in this movie is no accident (the current fad is to translate Proust's French title as In Search of Lost Time, which is literal but moronic). The theme, the tone, the focus, the slow flow with strong but intangible undercurrents of this extraordinary movie are as true a filming of Proust's unfilmable 5000-page masterpiece as we're likely ever to see.

Bonsái could not have been made without Diego Noguera in the lead as Julio. His exquisite grace, charm, humor and intelligence permeate the whole movie, and viewers to whom he does not appeal will be left cold and annoyed.

If you love the movie, as I do, it's...

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