Movie Review: Crónicas

“Crónicas” is the Six-Million Dollar Man of Latin American cinema: an all-star team of the region’s filmmakers have collaborated to create a bigger, stronger, better movie than could be expected from its individual parts.

Alfonso Cuarón, the “Y Tu Mamá También” auteur, produces, as does Guillermo Del Toro, who directed the critically acclaimed “Hellboy” and “Cronos.” In front of the camera, frequent Pedro Almodóvar collaborator Leonor Watling performs stunningly, and the reliably great Alred Molina (“Spider Man 2”) makes a cameo appearance.

The wildcards are writer/director Sebastián Cordero, who has only an obscure drama—1999’s “Ratas, ratones, rateros”—to his name, and actor John Leguizamo, whose work varies widely in quality, to say the least. Thankfully, both perform admirably in “Crónicas.” Leguizamo, in particular, delivers the performance of his career.

“Crónicas” follows a Spanish-language tabloid news team covering a serial killer in rural Ecuador. The crew, led by the vain and ambitious field reporter Manolo Bonilla (Leguizamo), includes his sensitive and conflicted producer Marisa (Watling) and their good-natured, stoner cameraman Ivan (José Maria Yazpik).

The serial killer in question, who has been nicknamed the “Monster of Babahoyo,” rapes, tortures and kills young boys and girls. The film begins at the funeral of the Monster’s most recent victims; Bonilla and his team have shamelessly intruded into the ceremony to gather footage of the grieving parents and conduct interviews with townsfolk.

A passerby in a pick-up truck inadvertently strikes and kills the bereaved parents’ surviving son, and the gathered throng of mourners storms his vehicle and conspires to lynch him by immolation. After filming several of the mob’s abortive attempts to set the motorist ablaze, Bonilla decides to intervene and prevent the hapless driver’s execution. Bonilla is able to delay the mob until police can arrest their intended victim, and for this act of “bravery,” Bonilla receives the dubious title “hero.”

Bonilla decides to follow up on the lynching story, and he pays a visit to the driver in jail. The driver, who we learn is called Vinicio (Damián Alcázar) implores Bonilla to be his “hero” once more by running a story that will result in his release from custody: the worst malefactors from the lynch mob have been imprisoned alongside him and make daily attempts against his life. What follows is a cat-and-mouse exchange between Bonilla and Vinicio, in which Vinicio promises information about the “Monster of Babahoyo” in return for publicity. Bonilla must ultimately decide whether potentially freeing a killer is worth the celebrity that would come from running his story.

Alcázar’s performance is masterful and nuanced: reptilian malice shines through the veneer of ingenuous dismay that characterizes most of his scenes with Leguizamo. And yet, moments of genuine compassion shared between Vincio and his young son keep the viewer forever guessing at his true nature.

The inscrutability of truth is the film’s leitmotif. Bonilla’s newscast carries the ironic title “One Hour With the Truth,” but Bonilla and his team expend more effort seeking the sensational and the spectacular than fact checking, and by the time they develop a serious interest in the truth, events make its revelation impossible.

“Crónicas”’s indictment of the news media seems especially relevant in the present cultural and political climate. One has only to substitute Ecuador for Iraq, or “Monster of Babahoyo” for “Butcher of Baghdad,” to understand the very real danger presented by an unfair and unbalanced press.

“Crónicas” is so successful that its flaws seem hardly worth mentioning, but the sex scene between Bonilla and Marisa is particularly egregious. Their romance is completely contrived and unmotivated, the film does little to examine its aftermath or relate it thematically to the remainder of the narrative, and it is brutally and unimaginatively staged.

That caveat notwithstanding, “Crónicas” is an incredibly rewarding viewing experience: its performances shine, its direction and production are first class, and it couldn’t be more topical.

—Staff writer Bernard L. Parham can be reached at parham@fas.harvard.edu