Videophilia (And Other Viral Syndromes) - Videofilia (y otros síndromes virales) Directed by Juan Daniel F. Molero
Videophilia (And Other Viral Syndromes) - Videofilia (y otros síndromes virales)
Directed by Juan Daniel F. Molero
Starring: Muki Sabogal, Terom Terom, Liliana Albornoz, Michel Lovón, José Gabriel Alegría Sabogal, Alfredo Villar, Caterina Gueli Rojo, Tilsa Otta, Manuel Siles, Nuria Zapata, Rafael Gutiérrez
Country: Peru
Year: 2015
Author Review: Roberto Matteucci
Click Here for Italian Version
“Lo sabes que la camera engordas.”
On 21 December 2012, the catastrophic prediction of the end of the world, according to the alleged Mayan calendar, frightened the most delicate minds.
Obviously, nothing happened but it was nice to believe it.
The deadly fascination of the end of humanity concerns all religions, starting with Christianity. In the Bible, the Apocalypse confirms the end of the world but does not mention the date, the same is in Islam. Others, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, have been braver and they have indicated to the exact moment. In the past, other fateful days have been specified, the most famous being the arrival of the year one thousand. So, the Mayan prophecy is in good company.
The difference is the presence of the internet, which amplified the belief, generating an exponential effect on people.
On the net, catastrophism finds its amniotic fluid.
A film about the internet is demanding because the dimension of the phenomenon is global and involves many languages.
The Peruvian director Juan Daniel F. Molero narrates the obsessions of the net in Videophilia (And Other Viral Syndromes) - Videofilia (y otros síndromes virales) presented at the 13th World Film Festival of Bangkok.
The first theme is technology and its dangerous application in the total connection. Juan Daniel F. Molero:
“We’ve gotten dangerously used to the technology that extends us and connects us to others. I see a lot of chaos and absurdity guiding us through this transition from being physical individuals to whatever we are turning into. Everything has stopped making sense and in some way it’s hilarious. This film is a tragicomedy about what the future ended up being.” (1)
The story has an electrified evolution between the tragic and the amused. The author depicts it with dirty shots, grainy images, extreme editing between video games and porn chat, with emoticons peeking out on the screen.
The human aspect does not disappear, it is only more complicated. People are not extinguished with the internet, they are even more involved but their decisions, acts, gestures are intellectually liquefied. Juan Daniel F. Molero confirms:
“But don’t expect a film with people locked in their bedrooms tweeting. The characters go on adventures, meet with strangers and get into trouble as they look for experiences to help them escape from boredom.” (2)
Two boys, one of whom is in a wheelchair, are on the roof of a building. They talk about the end of the world. They drink, smoke, they act crazy, they converse about the Mayan calendar: “this is the end.”
The problem is not the absence of physical contact, but the emptiness in the relations despite the countless chats and app with GRPS for dates.
Sex in front of computers belongs to a new sphere, its representations are so disgusting and arouse anomalous relationships.
The next steps are drug, alcohol, pills, while eroticism is satisfied only in the ambience of 3D and in the absurd one, such as the sequence of the selfie with a corpse or the distressing video splat with necrophile ambitions.
The director describes the virtual environment with intelligence. He creates, connects, shoots the frames and scenes with a series of messages - real and virtual - to provoke the feeling of a decaying society.
“La gente quiere culo” is the realistic dialogue between a guy and his seller of porn DVDs. The importance of anal carnality is treated with the austere seriousness of a debate on the extinction of the Amazo
“I never finish the script” says Juan Daniel F. Molero in his Q&A, after screening at the 13th World Film Festival of Bangkok.
It is a sign of the time, not a judgment, the unreal will never have an end.
Perhaps, in the future, the madness of the internet will be channelled towards a semblance of intellectual legitimacy. Nowadays, the senseless images of occultism, the nutty gurus who throw evil-eye by the computer, are a "dark or funny" representation of life.
The flow of images is falsely soiled and irregular, so the director can take spectators inside his city, Lima:
“I also wanted to show an uncensored reflection of the Lima I live in, its cultural clashes, bizarre slackers, excess, superstition, and nihilism. A Lima where there are also middle class youngsters being silly and trying to have fun — like the ones we normally only see in American film.” (3)
The final party, in a basement in the Peruvian capital, is disturbed by the intrusion of electronic symbols. After the party, a shocked, agitated, troubled, mad teen wanders the streets of Lima. The young man has the same behaviour as any guy living in world big cities.
The conclusion in Lima resembles other earlier scenes such as the pseudo-cultural walk in some archaeological sites in Lima with discussions about the Inca goddess Pachamama.
The images appear to be obtained from a vision on a PC with a bad internet connection while a hacker virus could be the solution to all problems.