Il candidato

Martin Marchand, a successful businessman and the son of a multimillionaire, decides to strike on his own in the political field, postulating himself as a candidate for diputado (roughly, the equivalent of congressman). He is obviously in conflict with his father, who constantly puts him down and who has assigned Martin a menial place in his own political organization. Over the course of two days in Martin's farm (does it belong to his father?) we see the beginnings of the manufacturing of the candidate's fictitious personality by various experts and specialists in sound, filming, graphic design, marketing, etc. The topics under discussion include such absurdities as what bird and what tree should be Martin associated with in the planned add campaign.

In the second part of the movie the plot darkens, as some of the experts' loyalties come into question, and the film veers from black comedy into drama. The transition is smooth, but there is some lack of clarity about these loyalties and the way they are dealt with by Martin's goons. Still, the balance of the movie is positive. Acting and cinematography are excellent.

Director Daniel Hendler, born in Montevideo, has had a distinguished career as an actor in his country and in Argentina, both in TV series and movies and in feature films, some of the best under director Daniel Burman. This is his second film he helms (not counting a short) and he is already a director to watch.