Winner of the Best Screenplay Award in the Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti section, Fernando Guzzoni’s film Blanquita follows the unraveling of a notorious sexual abuse trial that shocked Chile in 2003 and involved powerful businessmen and politicians.
Guzzoni’s earlier work which he wrote and directed, Dog Flesh (2012) and Jesus (2016), earned him recognition and a place among the outstanding Chilean films that denounce abuse and discrimination, such as Pablo Larrain’s The Club (2015) and Sebastian Lelios’ A Fantastic Woman (Academy Award for Best International Feature Film 2018). News reports and documentaries have exposed other abuses, such as those that occurred in a German Nazi enclave known as Colonia Dignidad and, in the present day, massive street protests have called for an end to violence against women. In this angry climate, Guzzoni updated and dramatized the 2003 story to delve into the characters’ inner lives. His nuanced script is never exploitative, and follows the hatching of the “Spiniak case,” a show trial that dominated Chile’s media and had unforeseen consequences.
The title character Blanquita (Laura Lopez, convincing in her debut role) is an abused teenager seeking justice, not just for herself but for her best friend, the damaged Carlos (Ariel Grandon), prone to fits of rage but heartbreakingly vulnerable. They live in a youth refuge run by a rather grimly protective priest, Father Manuel (Alejandro Goic, who also played a priest in The Club). Blanquita’s poker face shows her stoic determination to bring pedophiles to justice. She picks up Carlos’ confessions and makes them her own. As the suspense build, we gradually realize that the girl and the priest are in fact accomplices, and together they devise a plot that, for all its good intentions, begins to unravel. They confront formidable opponents: politicians, attorneys and judges, even a Cardinal, who admonishes the priest and protects his wealthy donors, no matter how horrendous their sins may be.
At the core of the film is an ethical dilemma: should rapists go free, while the poor get punished for a lie? This seems a bit simplistic, but the intricate web of motivations and cover-ups in Blanquita forces us to think about the irony and injustice of such quandaries. “Lying can be a different way to get to the truth,” says Father Manuel, as the accused politician denounces a “witch-hunt.”
The film exposes class differences without being preachy. The sets and locations tell their own story: from the austere interior of the refuge where a lonely crucifix adorns bare walls, to the opulent décor of the Cardinal’s office and the judge’s chambers. Blanquita undertakes a veritable pilgrimage of penance and ends up becoming the main culprit. Her protector, Father Manuel, is so determined to denounce the child abusers that he ends up accused of perjury. The film also traces the decline of the Catholic faith, as its somber rituals are replaced by the festive evangelical celebrations that attract larger crowds.
Cinematographer Benjamin Echazarreta creates a dark thriller atmosphere that befits the narrative. Sound also plays a vital role in building the viewers’ apprehension: atonal percussions and strings are mixed with broken glass crushed underfoot, the chanting of street demonstrators, or a baby’s plaintive wail to add layers of drama to the plot.
As child sexual abuse is exposed worldwide, Blanquita should see renewed festival interest. The film opens in cinemas in Chile in November, and will no doubt spark a renewed debate about the Spiniak case and its aftermath.
Director and screenplay: Fernando Guzzoni
Cast: Laura López, Alejandro Goic, Amparo Noguera, Marcelo Alonso, Daniela Ramírez, Ariel Grandon:
Producer: Giancarlo Nasi
Cinematography: Benjamin Echazarreta
Editing: Jaroslaw Kaminski, Soledad Salfate
Music: Chloe Thevenin
Sound Design: José Miguel Enríquez Rivaud
Sound on set: Federico González Jordán
Production companies: Quijote Films (Chile), in co-production with Varios Lobos (Mexico), Tarantula (Luxembourg), Bonne Pioche Cinema (France), Madants (Poland)
World sales: New Europe Film Sales
Venue: Venice Film Festival (Orizzonti)
In Spanish
98 minutes
