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| Carlos Cores in The Bitter Stems |
Cast: Carlos Cores, Julia Sandoval, Vassili Lambrinos, Gilda Lousek, Pablo Moray, Virginia Romay, Aída Luz, Bernardo Perrone, Adolfo Linvel, Otto Webber. Screenplay: Sergio Leonardo, based on a novel by Adolfo Jasca. Cinematography: Ricardo Younis. Production design: Germán Gelpi, Mario Vanarelli. Film editing: Gerardo Rinali, Antonio Ripoll. Music: Astor Piazzola.
Fernando Ayala's The Bitter Stems is as solid and twisty a thriller as you're likely to see, and only because it was made in Argentina explains why you've probably never heard of it. The handsome Argentine leading man Carlos Cores plays Alfredo Gasper, a journalist who hates his job because it never brought him the excitement and wealth he hoped for -- and, in an expressionistic sequence, dreams about. He's so fed up with the work that when he meets a Hungarian émigré named Liudas (Vassili Lambrinos) who has a get-rich-quick scheme, he signs on. Liudas wants to make enough money to bring his family, especially his son Jarvis, to Argentina. Gasper is so impressed with Liudas's devotion to his family that he agrees to give him a majority interest in the proceeds. But after the money begins to flow in, Gasper begins to suspect that Liudas is conning him out of his rightful share, and that the much-lauded Jarvis doesn't really exist. So he plots to bump Liudas off and take over the business himself. How could anything go wrong? The Bitter Stems benefits from the cinematography of Ricardo Younis, who was influenced by the work of Gregg Toland: In addition to a skillful use of light and shadow, Younis also effectively employs the deep-focus camerawork that was Toland's signature.
