La Sirga

A Port In The Storm: A Haunting Colombian Film That Revels In Silence And Subtlety
Subtlety has become a lost art in cinema. Anything that is slightly ambiguous, open-ended, or challenging tends to elicit equal proportions of confusion and/or hate among mainstream movie goers. In response, studios crank out easily digestible formula flicks and serious film lovers are often left flocking to indie art houses for international fare or low budget risk taking. I mention this in preface to William Vega's "La Sirga" due to the fact that it spells out almost nothing of its central plot. It is left to the viewer to decipher what the bigger picture is behind the tranquil and uneventful depiction that drives the narrative. The movie is quiet, thoughtful, and contemplative. And yet, there is a danger and unease that lurks behind every scene. Set amidst the desolate beaches (or perhaps swamps would be more accurate) of Colombia, the movie alludes to the political atrocities that plague the countryside. Every decision is fueled by this violence, but none of it is ever...

The Somnambulist
LA SIRGA (`The Towrope') is a stunningly beautiful little film from the mind and pen and direction of William Vega, a California-born graduate in social communications from the University del Valle in Colombia, who mastered in film and TV scripting at the TAI College of Arts and Entertainment in Madrid. Vega has subsequently served as a university teacher, director, screenwriter and assistant director for film, video and TV projects. In 2010, he was assistant to Oscar Ruiz Navia on the latter's Berlin award-winner Crab Trap. Though he has created several short films - Amnesia (2001), Sunrise (2003), Tricolor Soccer Club (2005), Juan Mochilas (2011) and Simiente 2012 from which he developed La Sirga) - LA SIRGA is his first feature film and it is a dazzling success. Vega has said, `Writing La Sirga originated from my being seduced by the thought of a peripheral geographic location unknown to Colombians and the world. The manifestation of wonderment from the people of that area goes way...

The beauty in modesty
Let me state upfront that I am a huge fan of the Film Movement library of foreign and independent movies, so much so that last year I finally entered my subscription to their DVD-of-the-month club. This is the April, 2013 release of that subscription.

"La Sirga" (2012 release from Colombia; 90 min.) brings the story of Alicia, a young woman who has just fled from her village which was burnt down, and ending up in a remote part of the Andean wetlands of Colombia at her uncle's. Her uncle manages an inn called "La Sirga" but it is run down and needs serious repair before the upcoming tourist season. Her uncle reminds her that "life is hard here" but Alicia chips in without complaint. She meets Mirichis, a local boy who takes a liking to her. Then, about midway into the movie, out of nowhere shows up Freddy, the uncle's long lost son who might've been "swalloped by the mountains". To tell you more of the plot would ruin your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for...

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