Movies: Lázaro at Night (2024) by Nicolás Pereda: An Actor's Deconstructed Reality

A Labyrinth of Art and Life Lázaro at Night is a 2024 Mexican-Canadian drama film directed by Nicolás Pereda. The movie centers on three artistic friends—Francisco, Gabriel, and Lázaro—who find their relationships and desires tested while auditioning for a film role. The film is a subtle and complex exploration of identity, performance, and the blurred lines between reality and fiction. Using a minimalist, elliptical narrative style, Pereda creates a thoughtful "meta-cinematic" work that combines humor and melancholy to explore what it means to be a person and an artist.

Why to watch this movie: A Challenging Yet Rewarding Experience This film is a compelling watch for viewers who appreciate art-house cinema that challenges traditional storytelling.

• A deconstructed narrative: The film is not a typical plot-driven story. It unfolds in fragments, alternating between real-life conversations, fictional scenes, and an internal narrative told through a character's voice. This style requires active engagement from the viewer but rewards with a unique and thought-provoking experience.

• A fascinating exploration of performance: The movie features actors playing versions of themselves and exploring the nature of their craft. It asks what is real and what is a performance, not just on screen but in our daily lives.

• Subtle and wry humor: Despite its serious themes, the film contains moments of "elliptical cringe comedy" and a dry, understated humor that permeates the conversations and situations. This offbeat comedic tone is a signature of Pereda's work.

Where to watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/lazaro-at-night (US)

Link IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33084901/

About movie: https://www.kinorebelde.com/lazaro-at-night/

What Trend is followed?: The 'Meta-Cinematic' Narrative Lázaro at Night is a key example of the meta-cinematic trend, where a film's story is directly about the process of filmmaking and acting.

• Art about art: The film uses the audition process as a central framing device to explore the creative struggles and personal insecurities of its characters. This self-reflexive approach, where a film is about making a film, is a hallmark of this trend.

• Blurring the lines between reality and fiction: Pereda uses his long-time acting troupe, who use their real names in the film, to deliberately confuse the audience. This deliberate blurring of the actor and the character adds a rich layer of commentary on authenticity and performance.

Director's Vision: Finding Truth in the Fabricated Nicolás Pereda's vision is to challenge the audience's perception of reality by demonstrating that true emotion can be found even in a fabricated setting.

• Reality and hyperrealism: Pereda has stated, "I'm not interested in capturing reality; I'm interested in talking about it." He believes that by using fictional frameworks, he can arrive at a deeper truth about the world. His deliberate use of un-naturalistic blocking and dialogue is meant to make the audience aware of the film as a construction, which paradoxically allows them to see the truth in the actors' performances.

• Humor as a tool for deconstruction: The director uses "languid, laconic, and contained" humor as a way to engage with social commentary without being preachy. The film avoids "visceral emotions" and easy catharsis, instead allowing the audience to sit with the ambiguity and discomfort of the characters' lives.

Themes: Authenticity, Performance, and the Absurdity of Life The film delves into several complex themes through its minimalist approach.

• The struggle for authenticity: The central theme is the search for what is real. The characters are constantly performing, whether for an audition or in their daily lives, which raises the question of whether they know who they really are underneath the roles they play.

• Art as an escape: The film explores the idea that art, whether a movie or a piece of literature, can be a way to escape the mundane or painful realities of life. A character's fantasy about a mythical story serves as a retreat from the "dull, pathetic world" of their current life.

• The absurdity of the human condition: The film has a subtle, absurdist sense of humor. The characters' problems and desires often feel trivial or silly when contrasted with the grander questions the film asks, highlighting the ridiculous nature of human relationships.

Key success factors: A Bold Artistic Vision and Festival Acclaim The film's success is a result of its unique approach to filmmaking and its strong reputation within the festival circuit.

• A director with a dedicated following: Nicolás Pereda is a known entity in the world of art-house cinema. His consistent style and themes have built a dedicated audience that is willing to engage with his challenging work.

• Strong performances from a consistent troupe: Pereda works with a small, trusted group of actors, which allows for a more fluid and intimate creative process. Their familiarity with each other translates into nuanced and believable performances that feel less like acting and more like real life.

• A unique take on a classic story: The film's inclusion of a "pared-down retelling of Aladdin" serves as an absurd and comical counterpoint to the film's more serious themes, demonstrating a clever use of intertextuality.

Awards and Nominations: Premiered at Toronto and New York Film Festivals Lázaro at Night premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and was also featured at the New York Film Festival (NYFF). It also screened at the FIDMarseille film festival in France.

Critics Reception: A Divisive but Admired Film The critical reception for Lázaro at Night has been divided but largely positive among cinephiles.

• Filmmaker Magazine: Praised the film as a "meta-cinematic comedy which argues for the tradition it emerges from by practicing it." The reviewer acknowledged the film's challenging nature but ultimately found it to be a successful and rewarding experience.

• In Review Online: This review called the film Pereda's "furthest he's explored his own style" and praised its subtle humor, noting that it "elevates the material above the legions of minimalist dramas that plague film festivals every year."

• FilmExperience: A positive review from the NYFF screening, which noted that the film "asks what you really want" and "doubles as a scalding satire of the film industry."

Overall, critics admire the film's artistic ambition and unique style, even while acknowledging that its deliberate slowness and lack of traditional plot may not appeal to all audiences.

Reviews: An Acquired Taste General reviews from audiences and film enthusiasts reflect the same split as the critics.

• Audience Reviews (general sentiment): Some viewers found the film to be a brilliant and thought-provoking character study, while others found it slow, boring, and pretentious. Its low score on IMDb reflects this divisive nature, as audiences who prefer more traditional narratives may not have enjoyed it.

• Social Media Commentary: Online discussions about the film often mention its challenging format. Those who appreciate Pereda's unique style often refer to him as the "Mexican Hong Sang-soo" for his minimalist approach and recurring cast.

What Movie Trend film is following: The 'Festival Art-House' Cinema The film is a quintessential example of festival art-house cinema, a trend of films that are made for a very specific audience and are primarily released through film festivals. These films are often characterized by their experimental narratives, minimalist aesthetics, and rejection of mainstream filmmaking conventions. They are seen as intellectual works and are largely celebrated by critics and cinephiles.

What Big Social Trend is following: The Performance of Self The film taps into the modern social trend of the performance of self, a concept made even more prevalent by social media. The characters in the film are constantly performing, whether for an audience in an audition or for their friends and loved ones in their daily lives. This reflects a growing societal awareness that, in a world of curated personas, authenticity can be a difficult thing to find.

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Final Verdict: A Film for the Discerning Viewer Lázaro at Night is not a film for everyone, but for those who are willing to engage with its challenging format, it is a deeply rewarding experience. Nicolás Pereda continues to cement his place as a leading figure in contemporary art-house cinema with this unique and thought-provoking work. The film is a masterful meditation on art, identity, and the beautiful, absurd ways in which we interact with the world around us. It's a film that will stay with you long after it's over, making you question your own roles and performances in life.