Slow pacing weighs down Argentine director Ana Piterban’s debut feature. What buoys it is Viggo Mortensen’s nuanced portrayal of twin brothers – one of whom poses as the other when he dies. There’s some great acting and a script that skirts around big issues, from identity to personal morality. Pedro and Agustín, the twin brothers played by Viggo, start the film with a Kane and Abel twist and there are Biblical references throughout – from Daniel Fanego’s Bible-quoting villain Adrián, to the primordial soup setting of Argentina’s Tigre Delta island region, with its snakes and hints of a paradise lost.
Whilst, like its characters, this morality tale remains cold and distant throughout, there are pleasures to be had. The atmosphere conjured is palpable, especially once the setting moves from Agustín’s well-to-do life in Buenos Aires to the stark wilderness of the Tigre Delta. Although you may wonder why everyone is taken in by Viggo’s act and why Sofía Gala, as 21-year old Rosa, falls head-over-heels for him, it’s ultimately Viggo’s acting that saves the day. As both brothers, and as one impersonating the other, he’s subtlely superb – and his Spanish is spot on.
At one point Rosa asks: “Do you think it’s possible to live without hurting others?” Kudos to a film that sets out to show why the answer is a moral grey area – if only it had done so with a wider colour palette when it came to character and pacing.
