Santiago Roman, a young, 23-year old soldier, is back in Lima after years spent combating Ecuador as well as terrorism and drug trafficking in his own country. He represents a sacrificed generation, which has paid the price of the government’s irresponsibility. Haunted by his war memories, Santiago has to confront a new type of combat: to adapt to civilian life in both hostile and indifferent Lima.
"Días de Santiago" immerses us in the complex and sombre meanderings of war and its infernal, seemingly never ending cycle of violence. Alternating black and white sequences with colour images to enhance the film’s realism and its atmosphere of desperation and frustration, the film director creates an unvarnished portrait of life in Lima. He makes the hero’s dismay tangible as well as the way his life now depends on the training he received during his army days, which moulded him into a soldier who is incapable of assuming civilian life. Filming the bitterness, the frustration, the tragedy of this tormented soul, Josué Méndez gives us a pulsating homage to life. (Festival information; photo: trigon-film)
Directed by
2004