Monos (which translates as "monkeys" in Spanish) is the third feature by director and co-writer Alejandro Landes Echavarria. A Brazilian native, Echavarria filmed Manos in Colombia. It's sort of a modern day update of "Lord of the Flies," with an ensemble cast of teenagers playing a group of commandos supervised by a shadowy group dubbed "The Organization," in an unspecified Latin American country (presumably in the present time).
The group is headed by "Wolf," who is given permission by the company commander "The Messenger" (who only makes periodic visits to the group in the mountains and jungle) to have a sexual relationship with "Lady." The others have neat names including Bigfoot, Rambo, Swede, Smurf, Boom Boom and Dog. The group also holds a hostage, "Doctora," an American engineer played by Julianne Nicholson.
Much of the first part of the second act involves a cow, which the Messenger warns is a "loan" to the group from a benevolent supporter, which must be protected at all costs. During a celebration resembling a bacchanal festival, Dog accidentally kills the cow while firing his automatic weapon. Wolf, as squad leader, kills himself as he realizes he'll be held responsible for the death of the cow. The group radios back to headquarters a false story that Wolf was responsible for killing the cow while drunk.
Much of the rest of Monos cannot be described on paper. It's really a brilliant piece of filmmaking in which the virtually unsupervised group descends into barbarism and emerges as a fractious entity as a result of conflicting needs. The significant plot points involve Doctora's and the female Rambo's escape as well as the murder of the commander, the Messenger, by the newly appointed squad leader, Bigfoot.
As a pure visual, kinetic exercise, Monos manages to convince us that Echavarria is a director to reckon with in years to come. Nonetheless, one wonders what is the entire point of his story? There have already been many sociological studies involving teenagers who have the potential for falling for authoritarian organizations and descending into barbarism (the Hitler Youth being a prime example).
Special mention should be made of Mica Levi's inspired heart-pounding score. Monos is a film that does not rely on dialogue-it is a visual tour de force. As such, you will probably remain glued to your seat as you watch it, despite wondering if the concept was worth developing in the first place.
The group is headed by "Wolf," who is given permission by the company commander "The Messenger" (who only makes periodic visits to the group in the mountains and jungle) to have a sexual relationship with "Lady." The others have neat names including Bigfoot, Rambo, Swede, Smurf, Boom Boom and Dog. The group also holds a hostage, "Doctora," an American engineer played by Julianne Nicholson.
Much of the first part of the second act involves a cow, which the Messenger warns is a "loan" to the group from a benevolent supporter, which must be protected at all costs. During a celebration resembling a bacchanal festival, Dog accidentally kills the cow while firing his automatic weapon. Wolf, as squad leader, kills himself as he realizes he'll be held responsible for the death of the cow. The group radios back to headquarters a false story that Wolf was responsible for killing the cow while drunk.
Much of the rest of Monos cannot be described on paper. It's really a brilliant piece of filmmaking in which the virtually unsupervised group descends into barbarism and emerges as a fractious entity as a result of conflicting needs. The significant plot points involve Doctora's and the female Rambo's escape as well as the murder of the commander, the Messenger, by the newly appointed squad leader, Bigfoot.
As a pure visual, kinetic exercise, Monos manages to convince us that Echavarria is a director to reckon with in years to come. Nonetheless, one wonders what is the entire point of his story? There have already been many sociological studies involving teenagers who have the potential for falling for authoritarian organizations and descending into barbarism (the Hitler Youth being a prime example).
Special mention should be made of Mica Levi's inspired heart-pounding score. Monos is a film that does not rely on dialogue-it is a visual tour de force. As such, you will probably remain glued to your seat as you watch it, despite wondering if the concept was worth developing in the first place.