Enthusiasm

This slightly rambling parable, by the director of La Frontera, on the commercialisation and loss of identity of his native country describes a love triangle formed by three friends. Guillermo (Rudolphi) dreams of a truly independent republic for Chile, but is nevertheless a pragmatist; Fernado (Escobar) is a poet who compromises his vision building a tourist development in the desert; Isabel (Verdu), is the woman they both love and who further functions in the film as an embodiment of the soul of the mother country. Nicely directed, good if sometimes overly moody performances, with some fine landscape photography. Shame about the faint cast of xenophobia.