Irish Film Institute -Chico

Chico

Director: Ibolya Fekete

Hungary-Chile- Croatia-Germany|2001.English subtitles.Colour.Dolby digital stereo.112 mins.


In her remarkable second feature, former documentary filmmaker Ibolya Fekete mixes fact and fiction to dizzying effect in a tall tale about a freedom fighter who travels the globe fighting for world revolution.Born to Hungarian-Spanish parents in Latin America, Ricardo Roza Flores, nicknamed Chico,is half Jewish,half Catholic.As a child he was steeped in the communism of Che Guevara and Salvator Allende.As an adult he heads to Hungary,where he finds Kadar ‘s brand of socialism to be ‘not hard enough ‘,and then journeys on to Moscow to become a KGB agent.Further disappointments eventually lead him to Croatia during the war,where he takes up arms to protect a Hungarian village.The film has inevitably been subjected to criticism for its seemingly pro-Croat stance, but its overriding point has more to do with the illusory nature of its protagonist ‘s search for ideological purity.’Freedom lay elsewhere,’ says Chico as he reflects on his frantic search for a cause and an identity.Intriguingly,the character is played by an amateur actor whose own life story provided the basis for Fekete ‘s seemingly incredible scenario.

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