Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Locos De Amor – A Movie Review


Maribel and I watched Locos De Amor last week while in Piura. We watched it again last night at the Cineplanet in Chiclayo. I don’t ever remember going to a theatre twice in one week to see a movie. To me it’s that good….it’s that entertaining.

Locos De Amor is a Spanish language Peruvian movie filmed in Lima. The genre I would guess is romantic musical comedy. To my knowledge everyone involved in the film is Peruvian including cast, crew, producers and directors. In my opinion the level of professionalism in directing and editing matches anything coming out of Hollywood these days, as does the acting of the local performers. The plot is light and simple; basically four women having relationship issues with the men in their lives, and yet the performers bring so much to their characters that it was impossible for me not to get involved in the story and root for happy endings.

The men are not virile, ruggedly handsome, larger than life personalities. The women, though attractive are not raving beauties with killer bodies. These performers are next-door neighbor type people. That’s one of the reasons this film is so enjoyable…because it’s so easy to relate to them; to share their feelings and circumstances.

The few dance numbers are a pleasure to watch. The early impression of each is campy but that’s soon replaced with, ‘hey…this is really pretty good!’
 
The songs are old and well known. Many of the audience members in the packed theatre were softly singing along with the performers, who while not having concert level voices were more than adequate, their voices reinforcing their common folk personas. Some of the songs were funny, others poignant. All in my opinion were captivating.

This is a link to a five minute video of the making of Locos De Amor. I think you’ll see the essence of the characters. You don’t need Spanish to understand it.

Here is another link that gets more in detail and includes interviews and segments of songs and dances.

If you’re living in Peru you’ve probably already seen the movie. If you’re living outside of Peru, maybe you know someone here who would send a copy to you (pirate versions are already on the streets – it’s a fact of life in Peru). I think you will appreciate and enjoy Locos De Amor. It’s a feel good movie that really does make you feel good.

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