The Vanished Elephant (2014)

The AFI Silver Theater is having a Latin American film festival. TVE wasn't necessarily the most promising option, but I had a Meetup invitation. I knew going in that movies from countries not known for movies -- Peru and Colombia in this case -- are a pretty big gamble, especially when they don't have many raters yet. (At this time, TVE leaves a blank line on the Tomatometer and IMDb lists no trivia.) Thankfully, my worries didn't stick around long.

The story begins with Eduardo "Edo" Celeste, a successful if hackneyed crime novelist who used to work for the police, writing his announced final Felipe Aranda novel. His fiancee, Celia, had disappeared in the 2007 Peruvian earthquake. (The title alludes to a painting of a land formation that got destroyed in the quake, which he stares at often.) He likes to think she's still alive somewhere, but to this day, a hostile detective suspects him of murder. And much like in Tell No One, it won't be the last murder of which he's suspected.

Edo receives an aggressive summons from a woman who received a package of strange photos addressed to him. The return address gives the name of her husband, who apparently ran off with Celia and was likewise presumed dead. Edo can't give her any answers yet, but he continues to receive clues from the sender -- probably the same guy who introduces himself as Felipe Aranda before disappearing. Unfortunately, these clues often tie in with murder scenes, causing Edo to get fingerprints where he shouldn't. But hey, who better to find himself in the middle of a "real-life" mystery?

A little further research tells me that writer-director Javier Fuentes-León owes as much to Jorge Luis Borges as to Alfred Hitchcock, and I can believe it. After an interesting anagram or two, I could only come to one of two conclusions: The film contains highly improbable coincidences, or Edo has very mistaken perceptions of reality itself. By the last half hour, there could be no room for doubt. Let's just say things get...philosophical...in a way they might if Stephen King and Chuck Palahniuk had a brainchild together.

Don't think for a moment that the Borges influence turns this into some frou-frou "art film." It's as exciting as it is artistic in both writing and cinematography. If it doesn't have a Hollywood budget, it does a good job of hiding that lack. I expect we'll hear more from Fuentes-León here in the States.

Basically, I feel about TVE the way many feel about The Big Sleep: I might never make sense of all that happens, but that does nothing to curtail my enjoyment.