Los Debutantes (2004)

Synopsis: This smart, sexy thriller, the debut feature from director Andrés Waissbluth's, was a hit in its native Chile and was well received on the festival circuit. Adopting the theme of the young country... This smart, sexy thriller, the debut feature from director Andrés Waissbluth's, was a hit in its native Chile and was well received on the festival circuit. Adopting the theme of the young country boy's loss of innocence in the urban underworld, it's structure is intriguingly presented and paced, divided into three sections told from three different perspectives. Two brothers from the south move to Santiago after their mother dies, and older sibling Silvio takes the 17-year-old Victor to a strip club to celebrate his birthday. The brothers are quickly caught up in an underground life of crime when the club owner, gangster Don Pascual, asks Silvio to work for him. Silvio complies and quickly rises within the ranks, but Pascual's mistress, the femme fatale and stripper Graciela, holdholds a power over all three men that is fraught with inchoate disaster. Depicted in the raw, energetic manner of social realism, the performances of the characters are believable and moving, and the clever editing lends significance to the themes of power and corruption that characterize the film. [More]