The Colours of the Mountains/Los colores de la montaña (International Competition film)

The Colours of the Mountains/Los colores de la montaña


Director: Carlos César Arbeláez/ Colombia | Panama/90min/2011

Plot summary

Manuel, 9, has an old ball with which he plays football every day in the countryside. He dreams of becoming a great goalkeeper. His wishes seem set to come true when Ernest, his father, gives him a new ball. But an unexpected accident sends the ball flying into a minefield. Despite the danger, Manuel refuses to abandon his treasure... He convinces Julián and Poca Luz, his two friends, to rescue it with him. Amid the adventures and kids' games, the signs of armed conflict start to appear in the lives of the inhabitants of 'La Pradera

Review by: John Esther

Deep in the mountains of the U.S. client state Colombia, a young boy named Manuel (Hernán Mauricio Ocampo) just wants to go to school and play soccer with his friends. Thanks to the impoverished conditions and civil unrest in the community this is harder than it appears. Teachers never stay long, paramilitaries and guerrillas swarm the area, and Manuel's family is somewhat poor.

Shortly after receiving a brand new soccer ball and goalie gloves for his ninth birthday (putting "the drunken ball" to rest), Manuel loses the ball in a guerrilla minefield rigged for paramilitary helicopters. Although prohibited from retrieving the ball, Manuel and his buddies devise numerous schemes to get it back.

Meanwhile, the armed people of the community tug at its citizens for allegiance to the illegal rightist paramilitaries or the leftist guerrillas cause while most of the simple farmers just want to be left alone. But indifference is not an option in a country riddled with human rights abuses.

As the civil conflict intensifies in the area and people increasingly disappear, Manuel and his friends try to cope with the unraveling of their community through friendship and futbol, but there is no real escape from the horrors.

An endearing feature debut by writer-director Carlos César Arbeláez, which is, fortunately, nowhere near as heartwarming as the San Francisco International Film Festival 2011 program states, The Colors of the Mountain (Los colores de la montaña) is the kind of honest, direct film that illustrates the worth of film festivals. It is unlikely the film will receive a U.S. theatrical release.




Official Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4A0WebZo7E&NR=1