Gary
The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.
Marva
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
Geraldine
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
robert-armon
Argentinian movie in its prime ! From the first scene one can understand with whom the spectator is dealing....a continuation of white people domination in an area that was formerly of its native Indians. These people don't belong to this place (the heat, jungle and even the local Indians bother them). As the title suggests, this is a real human swamp while in the background the catholic church is governing their paganism (the ghost virgin on the roof...). I felt nausea at a certain point of this movie and disgusted by its protagonists and their attitude. There is something pervert in this family with its many descendants, that in turn will became identical to their parents. Once a journalist called South America: America Latrina instead of America Latina, it seems that his mistake was intentional and not far away from the reality!
paul2001sw-1
Maybe you have to be Argentinian to really appreciate this film. In the stultifying heat of a hot, humid summer, a rich (though decaying) family sit around drinking, playing with guns, exhibiting casual racism and watching television reports of the appearance of the Virgin Mary. No-one does anything useful and very little in the way of plot occurs; indeed, even when things do happen, the film refuses to treat them as plot (for example, a late scene, threatening tragedy, is never followed up). It's a pretty powerful metaphor for national decline, and if you strain, you can detect faint hints of black humour, but even so, 'La Cienaga' is pretty devoid of conventional entertainment. The acting convinces, so does the dialogue; but there's not that much to keep you watching.
Jon
As you can tell from the reviews this is one of those films that people either love or hate. What will be your reaction? I propose a simple test. If you loved Ang Lee's "The Ice Storm," you'll probably love La Ciénaga as well. And if you found it unbearable (as I did), you'll probably find this unbearable as well.I can't say it sucks; after all, the critics adore it. I can say that after the promising opening, the film seemed to me to be less a depiction of morass and more a morass itself, swallowing the viewer into an unmanageable plethora of characters ranging from the unlikeable to the despicable.However, there is one character who does become fairly sympathetic. And when you identify that one, you can pretty much guess how the film ends. Stupid me, though. I subjected myself to these toxins to the end.
Lorene Anderson
Lurid colors cover a visual stink that permeates La Cienaga and turns all interaction sinister around the edges. The camera work was queasy and the cuts were brutal--sometimes fatal…I loved it. La Cienaga sticks in the memory like the urban legends the children tell to scare each other. The story is an almost voyeuristic tour of the families of two sisters, Tali and Mecha, one in the city, one in the swamp. We meet Mecha, the rich swamp-dwelling sister, by her filthy swimming pool surrounded by other zombie-esquire party-goers, all half passed out in pool chairs from the combined effect of alcohol and the rainforest heat. All of her bored kids are scarred, beat-up, scratched—one is missing an eye. Armed with hunting rifles, the swamp is their main source of entertainment—except for awkward Momi, who spends most of her time clinging to Isabella ("Isa"), the native Argentinean house servant in Mecha's crumbling estate. Tali's family, living in the city, seems a little more sane, a little more whole, but her kids are smack in the middle of terrifying stages of growing up. Her two hyper-gendered daughters on the verge of puberty wear enough woman's make-up to look like kiddie-porn stars or circus clowns. When they are not being chased by little boys with water balloons, they are taunting their little brother with stories of the African rat-dog. Some of the only music in the film follows Isa, the native; all else is the constant rumble of thunder, the ice tinkling in the Mecha's drink, and the silence of sullen frustration. Every scene is dangerous in its way, every volatile character was so full of desires gone bad, and all beauty was rotten underneath. Director Lucrecia Martel has created a refreshingly unromantic film in the romantic location of the Argentinean rainforest that leaves you with images as sticky as the heat.
