Synopsis (some spoilage): Gonzalo Valenzuela is the reason I watched this film. After seeing him in "En La Cama," I wanted to see more. Perfidy (i.e., betrayal, treachery), unwinds very slowly and it is only in flashback, that part of the reasons for the lead character's actions are revealed. Valenzuela is a hit man--multiple passports, a master of disguise and control freak obsessed with every little detail of his profession--even down to collecting his cut hair and cut fingernails so as not to leave any DNA. At some point in the past, he met and fell in love with the character played by Levi Freeman, but it isn't real clear whether this was a manipulation in order to gain trust or a real, genuine love interest. Gus's visit to Ithaca Falls in the end, has me leaning towards the latter interpretation, which adds a real punch to the whole notion of betrayal. Also, Gus's reaction to the Freeman character after he 'takes care of him,' leads one to believe this was a genuine love. Nonetheless, as the title reveals, this is a story of betrayal--betrayal on the part of all of the principals in the film-- Gus (Valenzuela), his 'lover' (Freeman), his lover's lover (Shrek) and whoever put the hit on her. We don't know who that was. This unseen character enters the picture via telephone and via an envelope slipped under Gus's hotel room door which has pictures (of Shrek--the woman lover of Gus's lover), and money--lots of money. Loved the direction--it is paced quite slowly and the director really brings you into this, this...event. Again, I am a Valenzuela fan and so all the screen time is all his--I'm not complaining. He is a very moody presence on screen and was good in this role. I won't spoil the one surprise in his performance, but it's quite nice--hope you like Dusty Springfield. One thing for sure, Gus did not betray himself and his ultimately creepy, psychotic nature--damaged, of course, by an absent father and domineering mother.
8 Reviews
The longest underwear commercial I have ever seen
andreretel10 September 2014
This film tries very hard to be "Avant Garde", but it falls short due to the very long and tedious sequences. The plot is interesting, but it take the director a very long time to give the audience a hint of what this film is all about. I would be surprised if 50% of the viewers make it half way through the film without turning it off or using the fast forward button.
I had to fast forward through a lot of scenes that just seemed to drag on forever, which ended up being a lot about nothing. The lead actor,Gonzalo Valenzuela, did an admirable job showcasing different sets of underwear. Other than that, the role wasn't very challenging and could have been cast by any novice actor with the same results.
This is a film that tries to be cerebral, but instead only succeeds in giving the viewer a bad migraine.
I had to fast forward through a lot of scenes that just seemed to drag on forever, which ended up being a lot about nothing. The lead actor,Gonzalo Valenzuela, did an admirable job showcasing different sets of underwear. Other than that, the role wasn't very challenging and could have been cast by any novice actor with the same results.
This is a film that tries to be cerebral, but instead only succeeds in giving the viewer a bad migraine.
A cinematic poem for lovers of poetry, who enjoy not having all the answers
jm1070129 October 2012
Oh my! Perfidy really does separate the men from the boys, so to speak. This is a brilliant - astonishingly brilliant - and beautifully poetic movie that clearly soars far above the heads of many if not most online reviewers. It is more like a poem than a conventional movie - a REAL poem, by Eliot or Yeats or a genius like that, not a gushing clown like Rod McKuen - with layers and nuances and revelations you can't begin to appreciate or even see the first time you watch it.
I have read Eliot's "Little Gidding" at least 500 times, and EVERY time I read it I see something new, something that answers a question I had but raises even more questions for exploration the next time I read it. That's exactly how this marvelous movie is.
The first time through, I wondered about far more than I understood, about what was going on and why. Afterwards, I understood a little bit, but not nearly enough, so I watched it again, looking particularly for answers to questions I picked up as I watched it the first time. I did find answers to some of them, but more new questions arose than I got answered. It's a deeply, richly rewarding type of entertainment that comes around once or twice in a lifetime, and NEVER from Hollywood.
People who love the immediate, unchallenging, spoon-fed gratification of Hollywood movies will HATE Perfidy; but people who love to be challenged, who love to look beyond what they see on screen for truth and meaning hidden within it - who love never getting to the end of the maze but relish exploring possible ways through it - will LOVE Perfidy and welcome it into their lives as an enduring source of delight and satisfaction for a long time to come. This movie is a real treasure, but only for those who want what it offers.
I have read Eliot's "Little Gidding" at least 500 times, and EVERY time I read it I see something new, something that answers a question I had but raises even more questions for exploration the next time I read it. That's exactly how this marvelous movie is.
The first time through, I wondered about far more than I understood, about what was going on and why. Afterwards, I understood a little bit, but not nearly enough, so I watched it again, looking particularly for answers to questions I picked up as I watched it the first time. I did find answers to some of them, but more new questions arose than I got answered. It's a deeply, richly rewarding type of entertainment that comes around once or twice in a lifetime, and NEVER from Hollywood.
People who love the immediate, unchallenging, spoon-fed gratification of Hollywood movies will HATE Perfidy; but people who love to be challenged, who love to look beyond what they see on screen for truth and meaning hidden within it - who love never getting to the end of the maze but relish exploring possible ways through it - will LOVE Perfidy and welcome it into their lives as an enduring source of delight and satisfaction for a long time to come. This movie is a real treasure, but only for those who want what it offers.
Torturous and Drawn Out
f-stop-sixteen14 June 2013
This movie is so introspective that it fails to convey its message in any of the torturous and drawn out sequences, or in the badly placed flashbacks. By the time that the director gets you to the hotel, you'll be craving any break in the monotony. However, the plodding pace continues with only hints as to were the plot might eventually take you. Don't expect the cinematography to give you something to occupy your time with. The shots are average at best with many amateur mistakes in exposure and framing. If you make it to the middle of the film, you'll be wondering why do is it necessary to watch nearly 5 minutes of nail care? There are surely others ways that the director could have moved along the meager story line that would have actually built some drama and interest. By the time that the climax comes in the film, we are too exhausted to care. The rest of the film goes down hill from there leaving you out in the cold with an ending that fails to reward the wearying journey that the director has taken you on.
Aussie Bum
listo3197 April 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Pretentious, endless advertisement for Aussiebum (and other) underwear...how much did they get from the manufacturers to make this film? Does Calvin Klein remember?? The lead is a totally sexy assassin and a complete turn-on (if you like hot Latino men in tight briefs, shaving facial hair, showering, dancing with a gun cum-silencer). But enough of the hair-trimming already.
Looking forward to the Cinemax, late night, sift-core version.
PS. Will be checking out Ithaca, NY in two weeks. Perhaps I will find some semblance of reality there. At least the falls in winter were filmed beautifully.
Looking forward to the Cinemax, late night, sift-core version.
PS. Will be checking out Ithaca, NY in two weeks. Perhaps I will find some semblance of reality there. At least the falls in winter were filmed beautifully.
Don't read this if you haven't seen this film!!!
hughman5512 June 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Wow! Wow!! Wow!!! Intense atmospheric crime drama told in a most creative way. A bizarre puzzle, the pieces of which do not go together easily. Clues are everywhere but this film is an exercise in the economy of words. There is very little dialog and every word spoken is vitally important to explaining the narrative. Subtle changes in expression speak volumes. There is a "tease" aspect to how this film is constructed. Writer/director Bellott unashamedly holds your attention through a confusing journey with the visual beauty, and emotionally compelling, Gus, played by the amazing Gonzalo Valenzuela. He gives an astonishing performance. This is a riddle more than a "once upon a time". Because of that, it is necessary to piece together the clues littered throughout and that may require more than one viewing. Thus, what's written here will be more of an autopsy than a review.
This film opens with Gus looking scruffy and road worn traveling on a bus to Ithaca. He is listening to "their song" on his IPod and caressing an object with his hand, recalling a past love, the heartbreak, and his reason for returning to Ithaca. His body is being bombarded by the familiar surroundings as the bus gets closer to where his lover broke his heart. As he walks down the hallway of the hotel toward his room he stops and glares at the room next door. Why? Because "he's" in there. We know from the opening of the film that a woman is also in there. She tells the desk clerk, "hold my calls", (I'll be busy having an affair). The woman's husband has put a hit on her because she is cheating on him. She is seen with her husband in one of the photos that came out of an envelope that was pushed under Gus's door along with a lot of cash. There is also a second photo laying on the bench near the first one. This one is of the woman and his lover, also a target, her now boyfriend. Alone in his room he tries to listen through the walls just to hear the sound of the man's voice. He yearns to reach through the wall dividing them.
Gus had an affair with the man sometime in the recent past. The man brought him to Ithaca Falls for the affair. There, he loved the man and the man broke his heart. By the way, Gus is a professional killer. And he's back in Ithaca on business. But it's hours away from go time and he's bored. He passes time with tarot cards. Then the most bizarre thing, of all the bizarre things, happens. He puts his ear buds in and lip syncs to Dusty Springfield's "I Only Want to Be With You" while using his gun as a microphone. Believe what you see here.
When it comes time to do the hit, it's all business with the woman. He is not taking revenge on her. He and the man were already a relic of the past when she came along. He shoots her in the back of the head. In her sleep. For his lover, though, it's personal. The lover sits up, startled at the muted sound of the silencer, stunned to see Gus in his room. The man never even has the chance to see that his girlfriend has been assassinated. Gus shoots his lover twice twice in the heart. Then Gus lays next to him as he bleeds to death, in shock. It is important to note that Gus killed his lover, perhaps as part of an assignment, but for certain because he was hurt. Less for revenge, anger, or business, and more out of pain. In the opening credits there is a screen shot of a quote by Guillermo Bedregal, in Spanish, that translates more less this way: "To make your love fit, something would have to die in the world."
Gus's relationship with the man is told to us in fragments and in flashbacks. Notice the body language when Gus and the man are together. Gus is emotional and vulnerable and the man is looking off and saying things like, "Don't think about that now. Come here." In other words, "Let's not get heavy. This is just for fun." Very subtle and very deliberate directing.
We don't know what has happened when Gus returns to his room with blood on his face, then masturbates, then compulsively exercises trying to drive thoughts out of his head. Then a flashback. Gus asks the man, "if you ever leave me, can I come with you", the man responds by giving him a carving, (from the opening scene on the bus) of an animal (maybe an elephant?). Handing it to him he says, "Here, I found this. I thought you'd understand." The answer to his question is in the gift. What does this symbolize? Now, reference back to the poem, "Ithaca" by Constantine P. Cavafythat, that Gus's father use to read to him before he was killed along with Gus's brother:
"to stop at Phoenician trading centres, and to buy good merchandise, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,"
"Ithaka gave you a splendid journey. Without her you would not have set out. She hasn't anything else to give you."
She (he) hasn't anything else to give him. The man is referencing the poem to say, "This affair, in Ithaca Falls, is all there is." Holding the carving in his hand his eyes go dead. He senses the end. The feelings he is having are not going to be reciprocated. "Ithaca" has nothing more to give him. He bared his soul to the man about the loss of his father and brother. Cried as his lover read the poem "Ithaca" out loud to him. Now he's realizing that this encounter was just a one off thing. Perfidy!
This film opens with Gus looking scruffy and road worn traveling on a bus to Ithaca. He is listening to "their song" on his IPod and caressing an object with his hand, recalling a past love, the heartbreak, and his reason for returning to Ithaca. His body is being bombarded by the familiar surroundings as the bus gets closer to where his lover broke his heart. As he walks down the hallway of the hotel toward his room he stops and glares at the room next door. Why? Because "he's" in there. We know from the opening of the film that a woman is also in there. She tells the desk clerk, "hold my calls", (I'll be busy having an affair). The woman's husband has put a hit on her because she is cheating on him. She is seen with her husband in one of the photos that came out of an envelope that was pushed under Gus's door along with a lot of cash. There is also a second photo laying on the bench near the first one. This one is of the woman and his lover, also a target, her now boyfriend. Alone in his room he tries to listen through the walls just to hear the sound of the man's voice. He yearns to reach through the wall dividing them.
Gus had an affair with the man sometime in the recent past. The man brought him to Ithaca Falls for the affair. There, he loved the man and the man broke his heart. By the way, Gus is a professional killer. And he's back in Ithaca on business. But it's hours away from go time and he's bored. He passes time with tarot cards. Then the most bizarre thing, of all the bizarre things, happens. He puts his ear buds in and lip syncs to Dusty Springfield's "I Only Want to Be With You" while using his gun as a microphone. Believe what you see here.
When it comes time to do the hit, it's all business with the woman. He is not taking revenge on her. He and the man were already a relic of the past when she came along. He shoots her in the back of the head. In her sleep. For his lover, though, it's personal. The lover sits up, startled at the muted sound of the silencer, stunned to see Gus in his room. The man never even has the chance to see that his girlfriend has been assassinated. Gus shoots his lover twice twice in the heart. Then Gus lays next to him as he bleeds to death, in shock. It is important to note that Gus killed his lover, perhaps as part of an assignment, but for certain because he was hurt. Less for revenge, anger, or business, and more out of pain. In the opening credits there is a screen shot of a quote by Guillermo Bedregal, in Spanish, that translates more less this way: "To make your love fit, something would have to die in the world."
Gus's relationship with the man is told to us in fragments and in flashbacks. Notice the body language when Gus and the man are together. Gus is emotional and vulnerable and the man is looking off and saying things like, "Don't think about that now. Come here." In other words, "Let's not get heavy. This is just for fun." Very subtle and very deliberate directing.
We don't know what has happened when Gus returns to his room with blood on his face, then masturbates, then compulsively exercises trying to drive thoughts out of his head. Then a flashback. Gus asks the man, "if you ever leave me, can I come with you", the man responds by giving him a carving, (from the opening scene on the bus) of an animal (maybe an elephant?). Handing it to him he says, "Here, I found this. I thought you'd understand." The answer to his question is in the gift. What does this symbolize? Now, reference back to the poem, "Ithaca" by Constantine P. Cavafythat, that Gus's father use to read to him before he was killed along with Gus's brother:
"to stop at Phoenician trading centres, and to buy good merchandise, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,"
"Ithaka gave you a splendid journey. Without her you would not have set out. She hasn't anything else to give you."
She (he) hasn't anything else to give him. The man is referencing the poem to say, "This affair, in Ithaca Falls, is all there is." Holding the carving in his hand his eyes go dead. He senses the end. The feelings he is having are not going to be reciprocated. "Ithaca" has nothing more to give him. He bared his soul to the man about the loss of his father and brother. Cried as his lover read the poem "Ithaca" out loud to him. Now he's realizing that this encounter was just a one off thing. Perfidy!
Gay characters enter main stream roles...sort of...
peru1-595-63010613 April 2013
Valenzuela plays a hit man. At first I thought it was going to be a leftie Pinochet revenge movie (those politics are there in the back ground murdered parents etc..) when he flashed his Chilean ID...but his mark is his ex lover and his girlfriend. Or should I say the reverse....someone was paying him to kill his perfidious (Title) wife or girlfriend who just happened to be with the killers ex-lover. He killed his ex-lover for his own reasons.
The movie needed more hints as to what was going on.... a flashback something as it was only by reading another's review that I put it together.
It is a tad pseudo-intellectual (all South American movies are) with the poems by T.S. Elliot...at 12 years old I doubt I would have let my Dad read anything to me let alone classic poetry. Maybe comic books at 7. Instead of classical poems the writer should have concentrated on closing holes in the plot you could drive through. For instance the first place the police would look is at the other guests....did no one notice his changed appearance? Surveillance cameras are everywhere any more his changed appearance and passports wouldn't do so much good if homeland security had a good picture of him.
Also Valenzuela is not a consummate good actor and he has to carry this entire thing...the first 40 minutes show only him cutting his hair and nails..he doesn't quite have the talent to do it. Although I am not sure any actor could have with this script.
Different sound track nice... The semi drag dance with the gun with the silencer was not needed. It is gay baggage we don't need.
His boy friend was much handsomer would have made a better hit man at least he would be fun to look at cutting his nails for 30 minutes.
I grudgingly give it an 8 because it is exactly what I have been looking for gay movies that show interesting stories without all the baggage that just won't leave. You know the over sexed mother...all the humiliations and the gays always end up committing suicide or something. This is not quite what I had in mind but it is a good start.
If they had toned down the artsy nature of this one and made the plot followable by normal people, it could have been a big hit. They had at least a dozen indirect references to Pinochet (murdered his intellectual parents) including a picture. Why not some hints on the plot? Oh yes please axe the Ferris/Bueler/Drag Queen dance with the gun.
The cinematography was good with unexpected extreme close ups etc...
RECOMMEND
The movie needed more hints as to what was going on.... a flashback something as it was only by reading another's review that I put it together.
It is a tad pseudo-intellectual (all South American movies are) with the poems by T.S. Elliot...at 12 years old I doubt I would have let my Dad read anything to me let alone classic poetry. Maybe comic books at 7. Instead of classical poems the writer should have concentrated on closing holes in the plot you could drive through. For instance the first place the police would look is at the other guests....did no one notice his changed appearance? Surveillance cameras are everywhere any more his changed appearance and passports wouldn't do so much good if homeland security had a good picture of him.
Also Valenzuela is not a consummate good actor and he has to carry this entire thing...the first 40 minutes show only him cutting his hair and nails..he doesn't quite have the talent to do it. Although I am not sure any actor could have with this script.
Different sound track nice... The semi drag dance with the gun with the silencer was not needed. It is gay baggage we don't need.
His boy friend was much handsomer would have made a better hit man at least he would be fun to look at cutting his nails for 30 minutes.
I grudgingly give it an 8 because it is exactly what I have been looking for gay movies that show interesting stories without all the baggage that just won't leave. You know the over sexed mother...all the humiliations and the gays always end up committing suicide or something. This is not quite what I had in mind but it is a good start.
If they had toned down the artsy nature of this one and made the plot followable by normal people, it could have been a big hit. They had at least a dozen indirect references to Pinochet (murdered his intellectual parents) including a picture. Why not some hints on the plot? Oh yes please axe the Ferris/Bueler/Drag Queen dance with the gun.
The cinematography was good with unexpected extreme close ups etc...
RECOMMEND
Brilliant!
moturn1 May 2014
Rodrigo Bellott really shows his talent as a filmmaker and artist in this film Perfidia ("Perfidy") of 2009. This is a decidedly cerebral film, an intellectual's delight and it's ideal for those who enjoy challenges trying to figure it all out. Many clues are subtle and the film may have to be watched more than once to catch many of them which hint at the mystery about what on earth is going on. Stunning ending too. Really brilliant! The plot lacked speed however: a great deal of time was spent in one spot, but after finding out more about the protagonist Gustavo, splendidly portrayed by Gonzalo Valenzuela, and what he might be up to, it makes sense that the drama did not stray far its location.
There are other characters in this dark story who play a vital role in the plot, but they are seemingly peripheral in the presentation; this is really an analysis of the psyche and heart of one individual, Gus. Ironically, even when it becomes clear that a crime is in the making, the director forces the watcher to see things from a criminal's vantage point, feel his pain, and desire a good resolution for him.
There are other characters in this dark story who play a vital role in the plot, but they are seemingly peripheral in the presentation; this is really an analysis of the psyche and heart of one individual, Gus. Ironically, even when it becomes clear that a crime is in the making, the director forces the watcher to see things from a criminal's vantage point, feel his pain, and desire a good resolution for him.
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