VERDICT: A new documentary from Lucrecia Martel explores communal creativity and expressive performance by bringing together marginalised artists in the north of Argentina.
A house under construction provides the ramshackle setting for a party overflowing with musical inspiration and a sense of camaraderie in Lucrecia Martel’s new documentary, North Terminal. Over the course of a few days – condensed and warped in the edit – several musicians came together for a happening, in which they performed for one other, enjoyed a shared drink, and discussed the politics of their art. It’s a film that feels intrinsically tied to the pandemic, as a comforting rebuke to our recent tendencies towards distance and isolation, but also an ode to the creative spirit of a group of talented and marginalised performers in a conservative part of Argentina.
The narrative construct of the party is used to largely level the playing field, so in the moments of their exchanges, there is no hierarchy or protagonist. Whether they are a singer from Buenos Aires, performers of ‘noise music,’ a Chilean trap singer, or a trailblazing trans coplera – a performer of a form steeped in indigenous tradition – they have an equal opportunity to contribute. The film’s form prioritises these pieces, most notably the coplas of Mariana Carrizo, whose recitations are enough for ‘this country [to get] off the ground,’ and the husky voice of Martel’s collaborator in the conception of the film, the electrifying Julieta Laso.
Alongside the loose, almost improvisational scenes, the film does have some directorial flourishes which nod to a more considered, slightly mysterious structure. A lyrical prologue about Laso’s journey north to the Salta region suggests something akin to a folkloric quest, which is repeated as narration introduces the cast of characters. The film also includes sequences that play with time – speeding up, slowing down, and looping in the way that people have been experiencing over the past few years. They add a formally interesting component to what otherwise embraces the observational, but they take nothing away from North Terminal’s main attraction – its collection of remarkable musical acts.
Director, screenplay: Lucrecia Martel
Cinematography: Mauricio Asial
Producers: Santiago Gallelli, Benjamín Domenech, Matás Roveda
Editor: Iair Michel Attías
Sound: Jésica Suárez
Venue: Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale Special)
In Spanish
37 minutes
