If you enjoy looking at things from another point of view and wondering just how it is that we don’t always note how such things are overlooked then Los Reyes might be for you. The story, as some are calling it, was meant to be a documentary on skaters visiting the oldest skate park in Santiago, Chile, but as Peter Debruge of Variety writes the director found it kind of hard to film since a lot of the skaters were a bit camera shy. Instead though he noted the presence of two dogs that were seen to be constantly hanging around the park, doing their own thing and acting as mascots of sort to those that frequented the place. Obviously the attention was suddenly shifted to the dogs, and as a result, perhaps just because the attention was off of them, some of the adolescent skaters decided it might be okay to be mic’ed up and give their accounting of their own lives and the issues they deal with on a regular basis.
It’s a documentary about dogs in a skate park, plain and simple. For those that are into new things that might be interesting and might be seen as innovative then it might be something that you’re willing to sit and watch, but otherwise it does seem as though it’s interesting from a certain point of view, and not necessarily one that would be universal. In a big way it’s about two dogs that spend their days around a skate park and it’s broken up here and there by conversations being had between adolescents about just anything and everything that might come to mind. Some might argue and say that this is genius while others might look a bit funnily at this and wonder just what was going through the director’s mind when he decided to follow and show the lives of two dogs that, in all honesty, don’t do that much and don’t really offer up anything other than what a typical day might be like in the life of a dog. That sounds cynical no doubt, but it’d be just about the same when following the average citizen around and trying to find some enjoyment from a life that’s not your own. In other words, the life you see on the screen means something to someone, but unless you’re willing to shed the interest to see something out of the ordinary then this movie might not be for you. It’s about two dogs that frequent a skate park and what goes on during the day, as well as what adolescents say to each other, supposedly, when they’re alone and no one else is around to hear.
Seamus Bellamy of BoingBoing seems to be among those folks that sees the genius in this, while some of us might be a bit blind considering that we’re not entirely certain of why two stray dogs and their daily exploits might be worth two years of study and filming. Of course, given that the documentary was originally supposed to be about skaters and their need to congregate in this one park, it might be that the director simply shifted gears in order to find something that people might find a bit more interesting. Animals do tend to make for good film at times, though it usually comes when they have something interesting to offer, and not a rather humdrum kind of existence that revolves around doing the same thing over and over. Again, being cynical and all, it might be that enjoying entertainment that moves and is continually active has ruined some of us. But Football and Chola, the two dogs in question that have been the subject of this film, no doubt have a back story that is considered worthwhile to those watching. But if it’s truly something worth notice, then it’s up to the individual watching to say yea or nay. There’s nothing to say that the attempt to bring this movie into the spotlight was a worthless effort, as people have responded to it in a big way in some communities, but it still seems difficult to say that it’s one of the more innovative pieces to come along in a long while.
If there’s anything to really be said about this movie it’s that those that find it entertaining and engaging are seeing something that the rest of us have missed out on. It’s entirely possible as it happens all the time with many films that some folks don’t see the value in, but others happen to think are far more thought-provoking than was originally believed. So maybe there’s something here, maybe there’s a quality to the movie that some can’t or won’t see, but all in all, it’s a movie about two stray dogs that frequent a skate park.
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