When the lights went out, the screen displayed a sign that read “cultural heritage – non-commercial exhibition”. Then, the first chords of the show resonated in the environment: it is about Fuck You!, homonymous song who opened the show in 1987 and who is now in charge of starting the film.
What follows are 83 minutes of Sumo frenzy and camaraderie. More than an hour of material where Luca Prodan occupies a central role as director of the scene, guiding García’s lens through the corridors backstage of Works and inviting the viewer to see things that, until now, had never been recorded.
The figure of Luca overshadows the film. It is difficult to explain how it was that, in just 7 years, an Italian who arrived in the country speaking a semi-rare Spanish, settled in Hurlingham and changed Argentine music forever. However, it happened: after 4 studio albums published and countless presentations in the underground Buenos Aires, Sumo – with Prodan at the helm – obtained the category of myth within rock.
Along the film ““Luca is reconstructing and reviewing much of our culture, our identity, our traumas.” explained to Ambit García, director of the film. “And in that sense, he also becomes a character very important in our culture”, he stated.
The VHS de García – who according to the director got a “very noble material“- manages to lead the viewer, precisely, to know what lies behind the myth of Sumo and the overwhelming figure of Luca. “I feel that this is a record more linked to the essence of Sumo. It’s a ‘friendly’ camera‘ the one that comes to the stage hand in hand with the same musicians”García narrated when asked about the work of the documentary.
Luca’s simplicity is reflected in his arrival by bus to the Stadium; in it backstage The viewer laughs with the comic duo embodied in Pettinato – Prodan, who take center stage during the hours before the show. Then, once the recital begins, the frenetic rhythms of the guitars of Ricardo Mollo and Germán Daffunchio flood the stage and the work immerses the viewer in the recital.
It was a request from Luca Prodan himself that enabled Rodrigo Espina – director, friend of Luca and original ideator of the film– to record the Works show. “In mid-1987, Luca tells Rodrigo (Espina) ‘Why don’t you come and record the concerts, because I don’t think it will arrive at the end of the year.‘”, detailed the director. It was this premonition of the singer that, 37 years after his death, allowed this film to exist.
The last show and an x-ray of the 80’s
It should be noted then that Fuck You! The last show It is not a biography of Luca Prodan or Sumo. It is, on the contrary, a direct and frenetic x-ray of the Argentine rock scene in the first years after civil-military dictatorship. “It is material that shows what a rock band was like in the late 80s,” said the director.
The images take us to October 1987 in Argentina: It’s hot and thousands of young people head to the legendary Obras Sanitarias Stadium to see Sumo. The years of dictatorship are part of a sad memory and the “democratic spring“expands art in all possible directions.
It is at that moment that “Fuck You! stops working as a film and begins to occupy the role of a historical document: reflects what the ritual of a rock recital was like in the underground Buenos Aires from the 80’s. In it, you can see “the audience composition that I was going to see a band like that, with 70/80% men compared to women”, how they behaved, like “they were dressed” and even “the relationship of these young people with sexuality“García explained.
The documentary also reflects the band’s position on issues such as feminism and homophobia. “There is an issue of the departure of the dictatorship, there are several factors that intersect. But he (Luca) stood up and said ‘we are all trolls’. I am a troll, he is a troll. With a speech that at the time It was avant-garde,” García said.
It is no coincidence then that the producers Marcelo Schapces and Hannibal Esmoris and the same Garcia rate the film “anthropological document”. A vintage photograph.
BAFICI at risk?
The projection of Fuck You! The last show It had three different moments: its premiere in the Leonardo Favio room of the Gaumont cinema; a subsequent intimate chat with the film’s creators, in which San Martin cultural center; and finally, an interview with García. In all those places, despite the joy, there was another common feeling in the environment: worry. The current situation finds an adverse context for the development of Argentine film industry due to the measures taken by the government of Javier Milei.
Argentine Cinema which, it should be remembered, is a reference in the Latin American region. Argentina is the country that has the most Oscar awards for Best International Filmin addition to having been the most nominated country in that category. Such is the recognition of national cinema that in Mar del Plata houses one of the 15 “class A” film festivals – the most exclusive and recognized, among which is the Cannes Festival – in the world.
“It is an act of resistance to present Fuck You! at the BAFICI”, Esmoris stated during the talk after the premiere. And soon, this could also be a privilege.
Currently, the government of Javier Milei announced a strong defunding of the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA). The measures applied included
- Suspensions of film projects for 90 days
- Temporary closure of 2 weeks, termination of 138 contracts – of which 90 will not be renewed and 48 will be discontinued;
- Suspend the making of all financial expenditures linked to institutional support and contributions.
- Suspend the provision of all economic support intended for the Provinces and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.
“You have to understand that the proposal is that”Lamented García in reference to the policies taken by the State. Although the director recognizes that in the INCAA “there were problems” that were not “accepted or even denounced,” he also stated that “It’s one thing to fix something that’s wrong. And another thing is to make it disappear“
“There are many more of us who oppose that happening.” stated Garcia. Then, when asked about the future of cinema, the director concluded: “We have to go out and defend it with all the means at our disposal.” so that this does not happen. We have to come out in defense of our cultural identity, which is what cinema reflects.”
Following this line, the film will not be exhibited commercially and will continue screening at festivals and universities both nationally and internationally, where there are already conversations to bring it to fruition Uruguay and Chile. After this tour, the film will be “shared by some free platform” García assured, because Sumo is already everyone’s heritage.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
