Gasoline
Gasolina
Gasoline
Guatemala, USA, Spain 2008
directed by
Julio Hernández Cordón
screenplay
Julio Hernandez Cordon
cinematography
Mariá José Secco
music
Fráncis Dávila
editing
Aina Calleja
cast
Francisco Jácome, Carlos Dardón, Gabriel Armas
producer
Julio Hernández Cordón, Donald Ranvaud, Silvio Sardi, Daneris Gudiel
production
Melindrosa Films Bulevar Hospital Militar, 12-62, Apto 12 D Zona 16, Ciudad de Guatemala T 502 2261 0765/502 2254 2208 F 502 2250 1031 gabrielamelend@hotmail.com
world sales
Ondamax Films T (1) 305 535 3577 E info@ondamaxfilms.com
format
35 mm, barvni/colour
running time
71 minut
Three teenagers, Gerardo, Nano and Raymundo, living in the suburbs in Guatemala are bored. They became amateur gasoline thieves with short-term plans. They go on a ride with stolen car, driving on stolen gasoline. Their only one aim is to kill boredom with any kind of entertainment. Coincidences and opportunities lead them through crossroads. But each stop is a collision with reality and every, even the most innocent, act can have unpredictable consequences. Boys are faster than they are capable of reflection, so they can not learn their lesson. Their rebellion to the parental authority is based on their irresponsibility and a couple of liters of flammable liquid in the trunk. Consequently with every mile they are further from the fact that the only fuel of their freedom from authority is the vaporizing flammable liquid.
Cordón takes a look of his characters from a distance. In this manner, he denies them place for vulnerability, where a spectator can be blinded by compassion and forgiveness. The three boys are never seen en face, so we have to eardrop on them from far. Author uses general plans and night exteriors, especially in important moments, where instead of accurate visualization, he keeps the spectator in a position of someone, who is listening from far away, and is left with shivers and premonitions.
»During the filming of Gasolina, the film script was thrown away. I worked with non-professional actors, three of whom were my neighbors. Gasolina is a film that reflects my adolescence and that of recent generations. In 2007, Gasolina won three prizes at the San Sebastian Festival which enabled us to do postproduction. Gasolina is a film from a country with neither a cinema law nor a film institute.« (Julio Hernández Cordón)
Julio Hernández Cordón
He was born in 1975 in ZDA and lived in Mexico, Guatemali and Costarica. He studied communicology at University Rafael Landívar in Guatemali and film na Capacitación Cinematográfica in Mexico. He shot three short films, Km 31, De mi corazón un pedacito tú tienes and Maleza, and two documentaries, Norman and Sí hubo genocidio.Gasoline is his first feature film.
***
“During the filming of Gasolina, the film script was thrown away. I worked with non-professional actors, three of whom were my neighbors. Gasolina is a film that reflects my adolescence and that of recent generations. In 2007, Gasolina won three prizes at the San Sebastian Festival which made postproduction possible. Gasolina is a film from a country with neither a cinema law nor a film institute.” (Julio Hernández Cordón)
