CORONATION

Mixing social obesrvation and menace, filmmaker Silvio Caiozzi has taken a Gothic-flavored novel by South American author Jos? Donoso and brought it to screen as a multidimensional psychothriller in the tradition of Claude Chabrol's “The Ceremony” (21st CIFF, 1997). A proud but musty mansion in Santiago, full of shadows and cobwebs, is where Elisa languishes, nearly 90 years old, tended by her aged bachelor grandson Andr?s and a small retinue of servants. It's not easy. Irritable, demented and as damaged as the matriarch of a sharklike wealthy family can be, the old woman can be placid and sweet one moment, a terror the next, spitting hateful, paranoid accusations at her caregivers and loved ones. Newcomer Estela is no exception. An Indio half-breed given away as a child, Estela becomes Elisa's pet – and favorite target of abuse. Meanwhile Don Andr?s, a lifetime of self-denial and despair weighing heavily on his sloped shoulders, begins regarding the youngest servant with lust and anger. For Estela now has a boyfriend. And that boyfriend has a brother. And that borther has his greedy eyes on the estate's hoarded silver and gold. On a dark and stormy night, as Elisa's latest birthday looms, the brooding plotline builds to an almost unbearable climax. (In Spanish with English subtitles)