“Diogenes”
- Sandro Mairata
- May 14
- 2 min read
RATING: 4/5 | By Sandro Mairata @smairata/ REFLEKTOR
“A film of deep conviction that gives back to the viewer as much as it demands of them”
At times cryptic, at others unfathomable, “Diogenes” is a challenging film for the general audience and, alongside other notable recent Peruvian films such as “Punku,” is a delight for the most refined cinephiles. It requires patience, a contemplative spirit, and keen attention to connect the dots of its somber script.
It is the story of Sabina (Gisela Yupa), a girl raised in the highlands of Sarhua, Ayacucho, in an environment of isolation imposed by her father, the Diogenes of the title (Jorge Pomacanchari), who devotes himself to creating the famous Sarhua Tables, a craft based on images painted on small vertical wooden panels that immortalize scenes of local life. Santiago (Cleiner Yupa) is Sabina’s younger brother, and there are no other children in the story because neither of them attends school; they have no interaction with their closest neighbors in the high Andes, and they do not know who their mother is. Later on, we will see that they do not even speak proper Quechua, as their lack of education causes them to speak in a way that their peers cannot understand.
All these details remain a mystery to the casual viewer due to director Leonardo Barbuy’s narrative style, which relies on his cinematographers Mateo Guzmán and Musuk Nolte to create a stunning, silky, and elegant black-and-white world reminiscent of the extensive work of the late Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado. The polished visual style, combined with the unhurried pace characteristic of “slow cinema” or “contemplative cinema” by directors such as Béla Tarr, elevates Barbuy’s vision to the realm of art cinema, though the indulgence in aesthetics often leads us astray.
Thus, following the canons of “slow cinema,” “Diógenes” has almost no dialogue, preferring sequences—not exactly scenes—to present the events to us. Some flashbacks take us to various moments in Diógenes’ life and explain—or rather, hint at—his reasons for depriving his children of community life. Gisela Yupa’s naturalistic performance makes Sabina a compelling protagonist, whose fate drives the story’s tension. Thus, the memories of the mother and of violence do not appear as merely informative flashbacks, but as fragmentary images and narratives that hint at terrorist attacks and a climate of fear in the Andean community.
In the tradition of films like “Yana-Wara” or “Mataindios,” “Diógenes” is one of those films with such deep convictions that it gives back to the viewer just as much as it demands of them. You need to be open to this exchange.
Year of Release: | 2024 |
Director | Leonardo Barbuy |
Producer | |
Cast | Gisela Yupa, Cleiner Yupa, Jorge Pomacanchari |
IMDB |
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