Porphyrio (2011)

Directed by: Alejandro Landes | 101 minutes | drama, comedy | Actors: Porfirio Ramirez, Jarlinsson Ramirez, Yor Jasbleidy Santos

What cannot be said must be sung. For centuries, sensitive subjects that are not spoken aloud have been conveyed from person to person through songs. In Colombia, the Vallenato is the genre par excellence for this. Preferably performed by taciturn middle-aged men who know how to play directly on the emotion of the listener with their lyrics. So is Porfirio in the film of the same name by director Alejandro Landes, who says less throughout the film than in the short pieces in which he describes his events while singing.

Director Landes, who was originally a journalist, grew up in Ecuador and was born to a Brazilian father and a Colombian mother, previously made an impression with journalistic work and documentary films, such as the 2007 ‘Cocalero’, about Bolivian president Evo Morales. ‘Porfirio’ is his debut in the world of fiction, although the lines of reality run right through the film. Not only did the idea arise from an event that Landes heard from the news; also, the main character is played by the actual Porfirio Ramírez Aldana. This man, paralyzed years earlier by a stray police bullet, hijacked a plane bound for Bogotá in 2005, in protest and to draw attention to the injustice he had endured for years. Enough has been written about the actual events surrounding the 2005 action, the perpetrator’s motives and the consequences for himself and his son. The film ‘Porfirio’ does not focus on that, but follows with a minimalistic view the daily worries of a man, paralyzed and left to his own devices, spending his days selling calling minutes, doing physical exercises and the occasional finding solace in short-lived yet loving sexual moments with his girlfriend and neighbor.

The film depicts the man’s life in such a neutral and almost serene way that at times the frustration of being imprisoned in an unemployed body is almost forgotten. Perhaps also by Porfirio himself. But just at that moment, something else happens that makes him furious and desperate at his physical limitation and the injustice that it entails; and the viewer faces the facts. As tragicomic as many moments are, so are others downright bleak. The latent atmosphere does not reveal too much good either. The repetition of actions shows the boredom to which Porfirio is condemned. The completely disinterested authorities show the impotence and unwillingness of authorities in Colombia. And the innocence with which Porfirio’s son acts shows how a lack of privacy and personal space is expressed.

Director Landes has found a nice solution for the lurking unsatisfactory feelings while watching the film. Just when these seem to be getting too bad, he lets Porfirio finish singing, telling his story once more with heart and soul.