MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE

by Iñaki Amechazurra

The Substitute (El Suplente), is a Crime Drama Thriller written and directed by Diego Lerman; it follows the story of Lucio (Juan Minujín), who is in a transitional phase of his life. His father, nicknamed El Chilean (Alfredo Castro), is a beloved figure in the community for his work toward improving their neighborhood in Buenos Aires. His health is failing, and won’t be around for much longer. Lucio is also recently divorced from his wife Mariela (Bárbara Lennie) and is struggling to connect with his eleven-year-old daughter Sol (Renata Lerman), lacking any motivation for her new school. Lucio has walked away from the world of literature to become a substitute teacher for a neighborhood school, to give back to the community he grew up in, the same way his father did. Things become complicated when he tries his best to help out a student of his who got involved and is being targeted by a local drug Kingpin that wants him dead. It deals with the themes of drugs, fatherhood, coming of age, virtues and values, change, community, and family.

Watching this movie, I feel like Lerman was trying to tell an encouraging story about a mentor figure who doesn’t give up on his pupils. Many films have coming-of-age themes where a young character is the main focus. I don’t see many stories that focus more on the mentor figure as the protagonist. It reminded me of the film “Stand and Deliver” with how Lucio just cared for his students. Even when they just acted like smartasses, he still stood by them because he knows their education is important, and how they develop moving forward means so much for their future. And it’s more crucial given how there’s the looming threat of a local drug gang making things hard and leading some of the students astray. It spoke to me because I’m someone with roots in Mexico; I have family from Mexico and am painfully aware of the corruption within the country by the cartel. And the youth fall victim to that life; the student characters in the film are aware of the world they’re in, and you can see they’re not happy. Meanwhile, Lucio is trying to use his love for literature to distract them and keep their spirits up. In situations involving the drug trade, people try to make things better but fail or even die trying. So this film having the protagonist’s father be an activist fighting for a better tomorrow, hits home to me. His student who’s in danger represents so many teens and kids who were victimized by these narcos. Lucio represents that desire to protect and build for them, the next generation.                                                                                       

Going back to Lucio and having a mentor be the main character. Something I like is that he’s not perfect; most films with mentor figures always have sage words or advice to pass on. But Lucio is someone who is struggling so much in his own life. He’s divorced, he’s struggling with his daughter, his father’s dying, and he hasn’t been successful as a novelist and gives up being a professor in literature. We start the film with him being bested and not getting what he wants, and makes a drastic change to do some good for his community. You see his students mistreating him or not caring about the effort he puts into them, and they don’t even know what he’s dealing with on the inside. And I think that’s a tremendous type of character to have, to write about; Juan Minujín did a fantastic job playing Lucio and made me want to be a mentor figure when I’m older. Or see me as a teacher using what I love to make an impact. The music blended in so well with the film as a whole and helped bring it all together. It enhanced the emotional depth of the film’s narrative, in my opinion. If you can’t tell this far into my review how my response was to this film, I was moved, plain and simple.                    

As I’ve mentioned, the strengths were the writing, the performances, and the setting itself. It brought the whole thing together, getting me very invested in the film. There were some plot points that I do wish we could’ve seen more of. Mainly the parts involving his personal life, like his divorce, his daughter, and his love life. His personal life is what made his character so interesting, as I said earlier. Dealing with so much while helping his students. The most fleshed-out moments of his personal life were parts involving his father and his job as a teacher. Lucio had good chemistry with his fellow teacher Clara (María Merlino), and both characters developed a romantic relationship. But since it wasn’t the main focal point, we don’t see how that connection forms over time; it’s hinted that they’re into each other, but when they share a moment, it feels sudden in a way. I also enjoyed the parts where he tries to connect with his daughter, but it left me wanting more and wondering how he resolves his issues with her. Lucio and his ex-wife allude to a solution, but it’s never explored further as we continue to follow Lucio dealing with his father and his student Dylan.

The way they wrote his personal life is a strength in itself to build up Lucio as a likable character. I just wanted to see more of how he plans to handle everything else in his life, it left me wanting to see more moments, just like how Lucio’s students finally showed him some appreciation. The fact that I want to see the main character have more good moments says enough about the film as a whole. But I also think it’s better that way, as life isn’t always wrapped up so quickly or neatly in most movies. In a way, you can see it as Lucio resolving the main obstacles of the film and working towards new things we won’t get to see but know will get better. Which I think ties in with the film’s theme of the desire for change; everyone wants things to get better in the face of large adversity, even if it’s just a small change. So with all that being said, I would recommend “The Substitute” as a worthwhile watch. Especially if you relate to the subject matter and themes of the film and if you’re looking for something that will speak to you as it spoke to me. I would also recommend it if you enjoy watching foreign films and are looking for a new find.