guillermo calderon

WRITER

EMA (2021)
Starring Mariana Di Girolamo, Gael García Bernal, Santiago Cabrera, Paola Giannini, Cristián Suárez, Mariana Loyola, Catalina Saavedra, Susana Hidalgo, Josefina Fiebelkorn and Giannina Fruttero. Directed by Pablo Larraín.

Free-spirited, platinum-blonde Ema is a beguiling, stubborn and fiercely talented young dancer and teacher. Her insatiable passion lies in the sexy reggaetón music she and her friends dance to on the city’s streets; she’s forged a career as part of an experimental modern ensemble overseen by her husband, demanding choreographer Gastón.

The couple is reeling from a crisis: they’ve just returned their adopted 12-year-old son Polo back to child services, after the troubled boy set fire to their home and injured Ema’s sister. The couple’s agonising decision spins the marriage into chaos, but the guilt-ridden Ema refuses to let go, and sets out on a strange, secretive, and fearless quest to reunite her family.

REVIEWS Ema - Horrifying yet hypnotic

NERUDA (2017)
Starring Gael García Bernal, Luis Gnecco, Mercedes Morán, Alfredo Castro, Michael Silva, Pablo Derqui, Alejandro Goic, Antonia Zegers, Marcelo Alonso and Héctor Noguera. Directed by Pablo Larraín.

It’s 1948, and the Cold War has reached Chile. Following the President’s outlawing of communism, Neruda (played by Luis Gnecco, bearing a remarkable likeness) and his artist wife Delia (Mercedes Morán) are forced into hiding. Beloved by the populace, they slip underground and are pursued by incompetent, vainglorious police inspector Oscar Peluchonneau (the superb Gael Garcia Bernal), hoping to make a name for himself by capturing the country’s most infamous fugitive.

Whilst life on the run holds little charm for the cultured and hedonistic Neruda, he uses the opportunity to reinvent his work and life, leaving clues for his pursuer designed to make their game of cat-and-mouse even more dangerous and thrilling. Thwarting Peluchonneau at every turn, it’s almost as if the detective is the man Neruda would have written to chase himself...

REVIEWS Neruda - A philosophical snoozefest