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MOVIE REVIEW Foreign film hits close to where we live Comment By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Apr. 8, 2016 at 5:25 PM By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Apr. 8, 2016 at 5:25 PM » Social News “Bastards y Diablos” is a rich story of family, love, passion, lost love, death, wandering, searching, trying to understand the people who got us here and left us here, wondering if they loved us, why they had us, why they moved on — and what’s it all about? This is a mind-stretching movie, one that opens up a rich landscape of the soul and, amid the lush, juicy fermenting setting of Bogota and Cartagena, digs down into the psyche of Dion and Eduardo, half-brothers who encounter each other for the first time as adults, after their father, Gabriel, dies. He leaves behind a will that is as vague yet as inviting as his life — a thing of mystery, beckoning with one line for them to scatter his ashes at the many meaningful places of his life and go to “the end of the world.” Where is that? We don’t know. Is it a place on Earth? Likely not, we soon discover. Perhaps it’s a spot in the hearts of each of these sons, a spot that will not exist until they come together in their search, grieving, getting drunk, getting robbed, loved, lonely, lost, finding in each other the family that has been lacking for both of them. This movie has that “foreign film” feel of half a century ago, when moviemakers started showing life a lot more honestly, letting people speak their true hearts, letting life unfold, not in the usual Hollywood package where Rock Hudson wins Doris Day. Life is a mess. People get very drunk and say things. Old wounds get ripped open. Old jealousies and losses bleed freshly. Dion is played by Dillon Porter, whose father Brian Porter own’s the top Medford restaurant, Porter’s and is executive producer. He graduated from high school in Medford. Dion’s younger “brother” is Andrew Perez, who wrote and produced the film. They convincingly drag you into this story from their first awkward meeting at the airport, where Dion begins to reveal his sense of betrayal because Dion and his parents took him to America to be raised. As they wander Colombia with their jar of ashes, they inevitably encounter the many players in their father’s life and learn what sort of man gave them life and shaped their character. Together they “are” him and can forgive him by the simple act of understanding him and letting him live inside them. He made mistakes. He loved and lusted. He had these boys and couldn’t always be there for them. Sweetly and mystically, he narrates a stream through the film, as if from a wise perch where he can grasp the meaning of all the pain and beauty. It’s mythical, like Homer, and underlines that hard lesson that you don’t find what you’re looking for until you lose everything. It’s an irresistible, rich and honest film, based on real events of the screenwriter’s father. Many actors are kin or lovers of the actual Columbian “father.” It was shot by an amazingly slim crew of six on a modest budget of $25,000. This does not show. It’s in English, with subtitles for some Spanish. It’s complex and makes you want to watch it again. The characters are easy to identify with and care about. The land, Columbia, far from being a nest of cocaine and cartels we know from the news, is a lot like their lives — laced with poverty, pathos and passion, but beautiful. It shows at noon Sunday at the Historic Ashland Armory and at 8:40 p.m. Sunday at the Ashland Street Cinema. Tickets are sold out, but if there any no-shows, rush tickets will be available. For details, go to www.ashlandfilm.org . John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected]. By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Apr. 8, 2016 at 5:25 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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