 | MOVIE DETAILS • Name: El Hombre Búfalo • Year: 2020 • Country: Mexico • Director: David Torres • Main cast: Raúl Briones, Sofia Alvarez, Antonio Monroi, Verónica Bravo • Runtime: 64 minutes • Production company: Dislexia Films, Jacalito Films • TRAILER
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El Hombre Búfalo (2020) is a low-budget movie, almost an amateur work, that tries to share a message of social criticism and also tries to play with an aura of fantasy, of a fairy tale. And the idea is good, but the execution is too weak and it gets stuck halfway between both goals.
As it is said in the movie, Mexico is qualified as the war-less country most dangerous for the journalism profession, only behind Afghanistan and Siria. That is well known, Mexico is a very dangerous country, dominated by corruption and injustice, where you can easily get shot in the middle of the street. Almost surreal for the ones not living there, but the reality of the country is sadly this hard.
The protagonist of the movie, Eric, is a journalist that has already been marked and has received threats and warnings. The next time he publishes a story might be the last one. Yet, he decides to go for a final one and investigate a mining company. Well, the outcome is easy to predict: A bullet in his chest.
With freestyle narrative, El Hombre Búfalo (2020) serves as a homage to the character of Eric, that although is fictitious he could easily represent tens of journalists in the Central American country. His friend and lover is making a report following his last steps, trying to collect information of what he was working on, and trying to unveil some mysteries in the family, always surrounded by disappearances, crime, and dysfunctionality. That is how the character of the Buffalo Man enters the scene. A mysterious being, half-animal and half-human, that observes life from the distance, never sharing a word, never moving, never being a threat, always acting like a figure of comfort. But… there is it.
I don’t want to get much into the story, to spoil the very few surprises this movie has, but one thing I can tell without betraying the readers is that there is no horror or fantasy in El Hombre Búfalo (2020). Don’t expect magic or supernatural happenings because you will only get disappointed. In fact, in the hour and some minutes of running time, not much happens at all.
The acting is ok, especially Sofia Alvarez playing the role of Julieta, the confidant, lover, and good friend of the missing journalist Eric, who is kinda the connecting thread of the story if there is one. Her performance is warm and honest and gets us close to the story due to the proximity she imprints in the character. But there is not much she can salvage in this movie.
Some of the conversations are smart, well written, and they almost feel like improvised. Perhaps they are, I wouldn’t be surprised of that, but I ignore the fact. And the feeling of amateur documentary that involves the whole film is attractive enough. But the story is almost non existant and the narrative is drifting too much, with an ensamble close to surreal cinema more than a structure fiction piece or a documentary trying to share a message.
I don’t know, I was honestly disappointed by El Hombre Búfalo (2020), but I must admit perhaps it’s not the kind of cinema for me. So this is why this review has a purpose, now you kinda know what you are gonig to face if you give a chance to this film. Because what can be tedious to watch and easy to forget for one could also be an interesteing experience for another; for sure El Hombre Búfalo (2020) has its own personality. But, yeah, for sure I’d pass this one, if I was me.
RATE: 4/10
IMDB URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt10893272
