‘The Liberator’ exposes ongoing issue with mainstream film

April 2, 2015 | G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com

Edgar Ramirez plays Simon Bolivar in “The Liberator.”
Reminder Publications submitted photo

On Blu-ray: “The Liberator”

“The Liberator” is an example of something I see as a continuing problem in mainstream film. Here is a well-made interesting foreign movie about a figure who loomed large in the history of the New World, but it was only shown theatrically in 77 theaters in this country.

“The Liberator” is an epic look at Simon Bolivar, the man who led the revolution that drove the Spanish out of Central and South America. He was George Washington for an entire continent and this film is appealing on the same level as “Braveheart.”

Of course, “Braveheart” had the advantage of being released by a major Hollywood studio and that it starred Mel Gibson, then at the height of his popularity.

Why more theaters didn’t take a chance on a film that could certainly have tapped into our nation’s growing Hispanic demographic is a mystery to me, but this is a situation I’ve noted here many times. The corporate theater companies simply do not want to take a chance. They have little interest in showmanship or promoting a film to a particular audience.

I would venture to guess if you liked “Braveheart,” you would enjoy this film starring Edgar Ramirez in the title role of Bolivar, a man of privilege who realizes his countrymen will not be truly free until the Spanish are ousted.

Ramirez is not a stranger to Hollywood. He has been in a number of American films including “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Wrath of the Titans” and “The Bourne Ultimatum.” In fact, I don’t doubt that with his talent and good looks it’s only a matter of time before he has starring roles here.

Ramirez is the dominant figure in the film and he carries it well.

The director has said that while there was an attempt to be historically accurate, the point of the film was to portray Bolivar the man – not unlike “Braveheart,” which also was not always historically accurate.

The end of the film depicting the death of Bolivar is quite controversial from a historical point of view and I bet it caused a stir in South America.

Director Alberto Arvelo did a great job staging intimate scenes depicting Bolivar’s life as well as some impressive battle scenes.

The film is primarily in Spanish and is subtitled, although depending upon the mix of characters it is also in English and French.

On DVD: “VANish”

Oh boy. What started out as an oddly interesting film about a guy trying to learn how his father vanished by kidnapping the daughter of the crime kingpin he believes was involved transformed itself into a nasty little gore film.

Director, writer and co-star Bryan Bockbrader seemed to be trying something a little bit different initially as two brothers stage a kidnapping to leverage the truth out of Carlos, a ruthless criminal played in typical fashion by the ever reliable Danny Trejo. The twist is their “victim” Emma (Maiara Walsh) has a few tricks up her sleeve herself.

So we have a claustrophobic thriller set in a van that in the last third of the film turns from intelligent to visceral. It is, as fans of horror films say, “very moist.”

And with the gore comes boredom for me. True suspense doesn’t come out of power tools being applied to a character’s face.

The most interesting aspect of the film was how the director shot three different endings; all are in the extras section of the disc. Frankly I don’t think he used the best one.    

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