Even the most well-meaning people can end up corrupted by greed and suspicion. Los Tallos Amargos (The Bitter Stems) gives us an almost Expressionistic film noir, one filled with tragedy and a dark twist ending.
Alfredo Gasper (Carlos Cores) is a struggling journalist, one who wants to accomplish great things in the world. He, however, struggles with a sense of failure, especially compared to the wartime exploits of his late father. He is also struggling financially until he meets Liudas Paar (Vassili Lambrinos), a Hungarian refugee who is in Argentina illegally. His immigration status has him working for low wages at a Hungarian bar, but that does not stop his ambitious plan.
Liudas wants to create a fake journalism correspondence course, where he will bilk people out of money by selling lessons by mail to allegedly help them break into newspaper writing. Liudas has no intention of actually teaching anyone anything, but his plan is not for profit alone. He will use the money to bring his Hungarian family to Argentina, starting with his oldest son Jarvis. Alfredo, partly out of greed and partly out of a desire to help someone in need, agrees to join the scheme.
Alfredo at first is surprised, even delighted, that the scheme is working. However, he soon begins to doubt that Liudas is on the up-and-up. Is he being played for a fool? Does this Hungarian family actually exist, or is it part of a scheme to steal the money and make Alfredo the patsy? The doubts grow with Alfredo until he decides that Liudas has to go into Alfredo's country home garden. Things take a horrifying turn when Alfredo finds himself facing Jarvis (Pablo Moret) a few days after Liudas "disappeared". Jarvis has come to Buenos Aires looking for his father. He then finds romance with Alfredo's sister Esther (Gilda Lousek). Will the seeds that Alfredo casually tossed over Liudas' grave give the game away?
Film noir is an already bleak, almost despairing genre, with little hope among the lost souls and femme fatales. Los Tallos Amargos seems determined to make our protagonist even more tragic in that he feels the guilt and suspicion gnawing at him from the beginning all the way to the ending. We start Los Tallos Amargos with voiceover, Alfredo suspicious of his shady partner. Sergio Leonardo's adaptation of Adolfo Jasca's novel gives us glimpses into how this good man got to his condition. Alfredo's ambitions in and of themselves are not terrible. He wants to do something great, to live up to some glorious vision. Journalism would give him that outlet, exposing corruption. Unfortunately, he has little to show for his work.
He can rationalize his acts by believing Liudas' story about bringing his family from Hungary even after Liudas tells him that he's aware the correspondence course will scam people. However, once Alfredo begins doubting Liudas and believes that he is being played for a dupe, things take that tragic turn. Los Tallos Amargos builds on the dark and tragic twists, with one of the bleakest and most ironic endings in film noir.
Curiously, there is no true femme fatale here, no wanton woman luring the schmo to his doom. Rather, it is a man's internal doubt and struggle with trying to balance good and greed that brings his downfall. Once Jarvis shows up, Los Tallos Amargos turns to the human cost, our two innocents oblivious to the horrors their older relatives have created.
The film is beautifully filmed by Ricardo Younis. Of particular note is a dream sequence that veers into German Expressionism. It is quite avant-garde, full of grandly lit scenes. Other sequences, such as Liudas and Alfredo's ends are well-filmed and acted.
Another excellent moment is when Alfredo has followed Liudas to a club where he sees Liudas with Elena (Aida Cruz), whom Alfredo presumes is his mistress and partner in crime. Alfredo overhears snippets of their conversation that sound incriminating, while the music blocks out other parts. When Elena, in a deeply moving scene so well-played by Cruz, reveals the entirety of the conversation, it turns a tale of greed and betrayal into one of great tragedy.
The performances are all well-directed by Fernando Ayala. Cores' Alfredo is a man driven by emotions: shame, guilt, greed and back to shame and guilt. As mentioned, Cruz does excellent in a small role. Lambrinos' Liudas comes across as equally sleazy and almost naive, though Moret's Jarvis is naiver.
Los Tallos Amargos' ending will be devastating, an ironic punctuation mark on this sad tale of greed gone wrong. Well-acted, beautifully shot, with a story full of twists and turns, Los Tallos Amargos is worth seeking out.
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