“Healer of the Supper” is the directorial debut of John Malkovich. Released in 2002, the film is based on the novel by Nicholas Shakespeare (who also made the screenplay), and stars Javier Bardem (as Agustin Rejas), Juan Diego Botto (as Sucre) and Laure Morante (as Yolanda).
The film takes place in South America, where a police detective (Rejas) decides to hunt down new guerrillas.
THERE MAY BE SPOILERS AHEAD!
Many potential viewers may be turned off by another political drama, but I’m curious why many who saw the film gave it lukewarm reviews, as this was nothing more than generic.
Bardemus was fantastic in his role as Rejassion’s dubious detective with a keen eye who never chooses a side. Due to his background sympathizing with the revolutionaries, he was assigned to the case, and several times in the film we see similarities between the suspect and Rejas. Right when Rejas is present in the presidency, where most people would all be hard, this movement comes and he is forced to reconsider his values and everything he has acquired and to ask himself which side he is on. Maybe if she had known about this movement years ago and not had a child, maybe she would have joined them. Interestingly, he asks Yolanda to be released in five years – perhaps hoping that if he could change in five years, maybe Yolanda could too. The sacrifice of the president finally proves that he has true feelings for Yolanda, despite the intense contempt.
I don’t know, but the movie gathers how little we really know about anyone. The dancer upstairs is of course Yolanda in the film, but also the title of the dancer upstairs could be seen on Rejas’ head; a dancer who permeates his thoughts. Uniquely, the movie portrays that King is not blinded by his love for Yolanda, but is only casually involved with her. Even in their dialogue, both express the feeling that each chooses to hide a part of their identity, but neither asks questions and neither is the wiser. I couldn’t help but parallel their relationship to “Romeo & Juliet”: “Only love sprung from with my own hatred!” Rejas seems to like himself around Yolanda, more than his materialistic wife. But of course we finally learn who Yolanda really is. (The dancer upstairs could also be a daughter).
Perhaps the best scene in the entire film was when Rejas watched his daughter dancing with Nina to Simon’s cover of “Who Knows Where Time Goes” ” Her daughter danced in red, representing the revolution – of course, looking at her delicate daughter, Rejas thought that she too could fall with the rebels, having lost her innocence. It was an absolutely beautiful scene.
First of all, this movie is full of coincidences. If Rejas’s wife hadn’t babbled about his speech at the end of the film, it is believed that the film would not have included Rejas in addition to the main film and Ezekiel would not have been spotted. If the wife was not aware of the form, perhaps her daughter would not be in the act as a dancing girl, and Yolanda would never have met, so the case would never have been resolved.
Overall, this movie will make you question the concept of mystery. Moreover, when new things are filled with such conviction, can we call them brainy? Specimens are more powerful without a face. There are also some very intense art scenes in this movie.
A.
