26 December 2010
“La Yuma” is as Nicaraguan as drinking ron Plata at the beach or hearing the unmistakable chirp of a perrozompopo in the middle of the night. Both examples are little touches the film contains that really made it stand out for me. Director Florence Jaugney, originally from France, has done a wonderful job of filling the film with all sorts of Nica idiosyncrasies that will be appreciated by anyone familiar with the culture, but she also deserves credit in crafting a film that can be enjoyed by those who are not. Produced by Camila Films and shot in beautiful 35mm by Frank Pineda, “La Yuma” is a giant step forward for Nicaraguan cinema.
The story follows Yuma, played effectively, if a little robotically, by Alma Blanco, as a young rebellious girl looking for a way out of her mundane existence in an impoverished neighborhood of Managua. Surrounded by drug addict friends, a loser boyfriend and a deadbeat stepfather, Yuma finds some of the change she is looking for in her seemingly predestined life through boxing and a chance encounter with a journalism student.
The film is not without its shortcomings, the “wrong side of the tracks” romantic subplot comes off as a little contrived and the boxing angle feels underdeveloped, however, “La Yuma” is still a very enjoyable experience highlighted by a colorful cast of supporting characters that surround Yuma and give the film its most memorable moments. Some of the standouts include, Scarlett, Yuma’s boss at a used clothing store who has some great lines as a Nicafied “cougar” and motherly figure for the young girl, Yader, her friend from the gym, who encourages her to get into boxing and also moonlights as a male stripper, the neighborhood tranny, La Cubana, who is constantly there for Yuma as a confidant and to offer support, and the mentally handicapped El Down, who uses his perceived shortcomings to his advantage as a thief.
“La Yuma” is being billed as the first feature film produced in the country in the past 20 years, and without a doubt, Nicaragua is a place that has been underrepresented in film for a long time. It would be great if the success of “La Yuma” and all the incredible work being done by Camila Films could help usher in a new era of Nicaraguan film. I highly recommend checking out “La Yuma” which opens this Thursday, May 6th.
- Jonathan Jackson
desearia poder ver esta produccion cien por ciento nicaraguense
This movie looks like all the movies I’ve already seen, the story is just too played out already. It’s like ‘Million Dollar Baby’ meets ‘Boyz n the Hood’. This film is lacking originality.
Esta pelicula es como un repiticion de todas las peliculas que ya hemos visto. Es como una combinacion de ‘Million Dollar Baby’ con ‘Boyz n the Hood’. No es nada original.
[...] va desde la celebración nacionalista, hasta el claro desprecio, pasando por otras posiciones más [...]
A mi me gusto, y me gustaria comprarla ya que apenas y estuvo una semana en Leon…. ni modo la tuve que piratear xq sepa donde jodidos la venden original, lo unico malo q le mire es que en si la historia no es muy original en cuanto a la chavala que boxea y bla bla bla.