Punto Rojo Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Punto Rojo Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 8, 2024

The venerable Oxford English Dictionary alleges that the term hooligan may have stemmed from the surname of a "rowdy Irish family" who were the subject of a 19th century music hall song. Somehow that term has morphed to mean "fanatical soccer fan" in the everyday parlance of Ireland's sometime nemesis Great Britain, and while Argentinians along with the rest of South America evidently have their own term for this kind of diehard supporter, namely barra brava, "hooligan" is the word utilized on both the back cover and subtitles of this release to help identify focal character Diego (Demián Salomón). Diego is obviously a tough character, sitting in a somewhat dilapidated blue Dodge in the middle of a field and chain smoking cigarettes while he listens to a radio quiz show about his favorite team. Diego can't believe the stupidity of the contestant vying for prize money, and calls into the station himself, where he's put on air and easily answers a slew of questions, moving him on to the next round. Another term with some interesting etymology, Deus ex machina, may come to mind as the first of several completely gonzo plot twists are introduced. If Deus ex Machina refers to "god from a machine", indicating some kind of saving presence that descends from the sky to make everything right and whole, Diego is suddenly beset with not one but two bodies coming down from above, though they're probably the polar opposite of any kind of saving grace. The first body is actually that — a body, as in a previously living individual, which suddenly drops and smashes the windshield of Diego's old car. Within seconds a fiery plane crash then "delivers" a combative woman named Paula (Mariana Anghileri), whose appearance may initially seem as random as a dead body falling out of the sky and destroying a windshield. Both of those incidents of course turn out to be anything but random.

Suffice it to say Diego is no mere soccer fan sitting out in a field in an old Dodge, and the film then begins to deconstruct what got Diego and Paula, as well as another character whose involvement won't be spoiled here since it's one of the story's more unexpected surprises, into this fractious state of affairs. Punto Rojo kind of reminded me of an Argentinian riff on the kind of stylized mayhem that often informs the work of Quentin Tarantino or perhaps more saliently in this case considering some of the ultra black humor, the Coen Brothers. The film's screenplay offers at least a couple genuine surprises, but it's also arguably a bit too rushed and relies on intercutting between various time frames to establish what's actually going on. The violence is both graphic and cartoonish at times, as a trio of characters wrestles with achieving dominance, something that turns out to be fleeting for each of them at various points.

Writer and director Nic Loreti keeps things brisk and almost breathless for the bulk of the fairly short running time, and he also introduces some visual flair courtesy of both black and white and color elements, including some black and white sequences that have been graded so that just one thing, like a certain blue car, still has hue. It may not "mean" anything per se, but it gives the film some undeniable energy which is matched by some aggressive performances by the main trio of characters. There's maybe just the slightest allusion to Kiss Me Deadly in some of the gonzo plot mechanics, and as with that film, not everything is overtly explained.

Punto Rojo Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Punto Rujo is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. I haven't been able to track down any real technical information and the IMDb has nothing much as of the writing of this review, but cinematographer Mariano Suárez's website has several photos of him with Arri cameras, including one that looks like it may have been taken on the location work for this film. One way or the other, this is an appealingly sharp and well detailed presentation most of the time, though some of Loreti's stylistic flourishes which are arguably unnecessary to either the story or its visual allure can be intentionally depleted of fine detail (see screenshot 3). The outdoor color material is very subtly graded to emphasize the yellow and blue tones that predominate, but it's in these sequences where fine detail tends to resonate the best. Black and white and/or black and white with color (as in screenshots 3 and 9) also tend to offer surprisingly consistent detail levels despite often dark surroundings and intentionally tweaked contrast. There are some passing issues with banding including some of the production mastheads but also during the actual film. The film's evidently very small budget means some of the special effects aren't especially artful, including the supposed explosion that results from the plane crashing early in the story (see screenshot 8).

Punto Rojo Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Punto Rojo features a nicely propulsive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track in the original Spanish (an LPCM 2.0 track is also provided). A kind of snarly, guitar infused rock score helps to propel the story and features clear engagement of the surround channels. While subtle at times, there's even appealing directionality in some of the early scenes with Diego in his car. Both the many outdoor scenes as well as flashbacks in more claustrophobic environments provide good placement of ambient environmental sounds. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Punto Rojo Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Pinball (HD; 13:06) is a short by Nic Loreti that I'm assuming gave birth to the longer feature. This revolves around one of the central conceits of the feature, and has a nice Twilight Zone-ish twist of karma at the end.


• Trailers includes Punto Rojo (HD; 1:34) along with trailers for other releases from MVD Visual.


• Director's Commentary features Nic Loretti and producer and storyboard artist Lucas Accardo, and is accessible under the Audio Menu. in English.

Punto Rojo Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The commentary included on this disc gets into some rather interesting contextual information, including the evidently desperate straits of Argentina's economy, an aspect that is kind of subliminally there in the film vis a vis Diego's obvious plight and attempts to win a radio contest, but which is nonetheless perhaps not the first thing viewers will be thinking of as they're confronted in rapid succession by a trio of intertwined characters, all with some dubious histories. This frankly may not work all of the time, and its very black sense of humor and graphic violence may not be to everyone's taste, but Punto Rojo is a gonzo tale that kept me quite engaged. Technical merits are solid, and both the included short and commentary track very enjoyable. Recommended.