5.3 - 25 WATTS (2001) & Futility

Our film this week is the slacker comedy/drama 25 WATTS, from Uruguay. Post-reviews, we talk about movies with which this shares obvious roots, as well as how this captures the experiences of disenfranchised youth, and some borderline-colonial-tourist-y speculation about why this was such an important touchstone in Uruguayan film.

Next Up
The next film on our cinematic journey through Latin America is the 2002 film CITY OF GOD.

Recent Media
KATE (2021): Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Miku Martineau
GODZILLA VS. KONG (2021): Adam Wingard, Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown
SHIN GODZILLA (2016): Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi, Hiroki Hasegawa

Recommendations
THE MYTH OF THE AMERICAN SLEEPOVER (2010): David Robert Mitchell, Claire Sloma, Marlon Morton
waydowntown (2000): Gary Burns, Fab Filippo, Don McKellar
CLERKS (1994): Kevin Smith, Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson
SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT (1986): Spike Lee, Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks

Footnotes
Firstly, it would be remiss of me not to include a reference to our CLERKS episode, from way back in the mists of time (remember how the world was, before COVID and Trump and Brexit? Ahhh…): www.kaiju.fm/prestige/clerks-slacker-cinema. For more on the cinema of Uruguay, see here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Uruguay. If you’re a fan of 25 WATTS, why not try one of these: www.guruguay.com/5-uruguayan-films. Given our discussion of nationality, and why this might be a particularly ‘Uruguayan’ film, this is a good book (for the whole of this mini-season, in fact): books.google.co.uk/books/about/Latin_American_Cinema.html?id=MB-hBAAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y. Finally, I know it’s a comedy, not a drama, so doesn’t meet Rob’s criteria for authentic youth/university life on screen, but here’s a nice little summary of what made FRESH MEAT a good — and, it turns out, poignant — bit of tv: www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/mar/28/fresh-meat-farewell-good-luck-in-the-real-world-its-terrible-out-there.

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