ESPAÑOL
Cada vez más vemos cómo nuevos cineastas deciden realizar un homenaje a quienes influyeron en su decisión de convertirse en directores y hasta guionistas; personalmente esto es algo que siempre me ha gustado porque impulsa o motiva a una nueva generación a seguir esos pasos, a revisar producciones que son consideradas como clásicos del cine y así poder ayudar a crear nuevas historias que puedan crear un impacto tal como lo hicieron las historias que los influenciaron; todo esto lo he dicho porque el actor, guionista, productor y director, Jordan Peele, ha demostrado en sus tres films como director una gran influencia en muchos clásicos del cine que junto con una crítica, denuncia social a diferentes temas como racismo, clasismo y el uso desmedido de crear un espectáculo ha realizado excelentes producciones, en especial su último film el que considero el mejor de su corto repertorio.
ENGLISH
More and more we see how new filmmakers decide to pay tribute to those who influenced their decision to become directors and even screenwriters; personally this is something that I have always liked because it encourages or motivates a new generation to follow in those footsteps, to review productions that are considered film classics and thus be able to help create new stories that can create an impact just as the stories that influenced them did; I have said all this because the actor, screenwriter, producer and director, Jordan Peele, has shown in his three films as a director a great influence in many classic films that along with a critical, social denunciation to different issues such as racism, classism and the excessive use of creating a show has made excellent productions, especially his latest film which I consider the best of his short repertoire.
From the moment the first trailer of "NOPE" was released I decided that this was the only time I would see something about the film until the moment of its release; I think it was necessary to keep the secret although it was difficult not to find out something or other because more and more Peele attracts new fans due to the success of several of his productions; this time he decided to create a story that could be considered as a summer blockbuster as it happened in the past, an original story that had characteristics of adventure, drama, comedy and even horror and just that feature are partly what we find in "NOPE", a film where we see the story of "OJ" and "Em"; two brothers who from the moment of the unexpected and strange death of their father, must do everything possible and impossible to keep the ranch where they train horses in order to be part of a show, whether in a commercial, film or TV; Just in a desperate moment full of great economic need, a strange opportunity appears that could bring great fame and of course a lot of money, what they do not know is that they will not be the first to see that opportunity and that makes the desperation they have for the need of fame makes them become victims of something they do not understand, of something that seems that was not created to be controlled, tamed, much less to become a spectacle.
Personalmente, he disfrutado de las dos anteriores películas que dirigió, escribió y produjo Jordan Peele y por eso tenía expectativas sobre su trabajo en los diferentes roles que tuvo en esta producción; primeramente hablaré sobre su trabajo en la dirección la cual considero que ha realizado un excelente trabajo y es que tan solo una imagen como la que muestra para contar al mundo su historia sobre lo que significa el primer metraje que se consideró como cine, es algo que me ha gustado, en varios momentos podemos ver ese primer homenaje al cine; lo otro es la perspectiva que tiene el espectador que está enfocado, posiblemente "entretenido" con un evento "milagroso", pero a la vez traumático; me gusta que haya creado escenas en dónde se puede pasar de la normalidad a la alegría, asombro, incertidumbre y terminar con terror; está es otra de las características importantes que ayudan mucho al relato de esta historia, pero sin ninguna duda que lo mejor del film en la dirección parte de los últimos 30 o más minutos del metraje en dónde pone en uso toda herramienta que tiene para crear sorprendentes y divertidas escenas para cerrar tan buena historia; creo que este film al contar con tanto espacio para explotar diferentes tomas se convirtió en un plus y eso es lo que ha hecho que disfrutará aún más de su trabajo como director.
Personally, I have enjoyed the two previous films directed, written and produced by Jordan Peele and that is why I had expectations about his work in the different roles he had in this production; first I will talk about his work in the direction which I consider that he has done an excellent job and is that just an image like the one he shows to tell the world his story about what means the first footage that was considered as cinema, is something that I liked, in several moments we can see that first homage to cinema; the other thing is the perspective that the viewer has who is focused, possibly "entertained" with a "miraculous" event, but at the same time traumatic; I like that he has created scenes where you can go from normality to joy, amazement, uncertainty and end with terror; this is another important feature that helps a lot to tell this story, but without any doubt that the best of the film in the direction part of the last 30 or more minutes of the footage where he uses every tool he has to create surprising and funny scenes to close such a good story; I think this film to have so much space to exploit different shots became a plus and that is what has made me enjoy even more of his work as a director.
El guion creado por Peele es lo mejor, sin ninguna duda que es algo que dignifica amar al cine, ya que para mí es un gran acumuló de géneros, un homenaje extenso a lo que es el cine y que se convierte en un gran acompañante para la historia de este film. Tanto en "Get Out" como en "Us", Peele decide realizar una crítica social usando de base el terror porque no hay duda de que al tratar temas como el racismo y clasismo en el cine, no hay mejor género que los represente como el terror, con esto no digo que este gran género represente estos temas, sino que para la calidad de varios de sus personajes, encajan mejor dentro de lo que es el terror; después de explicar mi opinión sobre el uso de Jordan de este género en sus historias, seguramente era de esperar que en su tercer film también fuera de terror, pero después de ver esta película pude presenciar que solamente es una parte y que hay muchas cosas más que se perciben en esta historia y es que la influencia de westerns, ciencia-ficción, aventura, drama familiar y comedia, es más que evidente en este completo film y crean una base sólida para la nueva crítica que se planteó este guionista y que se refiera a cómo es el uso del espectáculo, que tan lejos puede llegar alguien para crear algo "espectacular" y alcanzar la fama; sé que este tema no es original ni mucho menos, pero la crítica que hace Jordan es algo actual en dónde cada vez lo trágico se ha convertido en entretenimiento porque parece que puede perdurar más en la mente de algunas personas, se convierte en algo más llamativo y por eso no importa quien sufra, lo importante es hacer relevante ese sufrimiento para en algún momento ser notado nuevamente. Creo que lo directo y simple de como es mostrado en este film es lo que más me ha gustado y es que existe un importante balance entre el homenaje al cine y la crítica; eso es lo mejor del film.
The script created by Peele is the best, without any doubt that it is something that dignifies to love cinema, since for me it is a great accumulation of genres, an extensive tribute to what cinema is and that becomes a great companion for the story of this film. In both "Get Out" and "Us", Peele decides to make a social criticism using horror as a base because there is no doubt that when dealing with issues such as racism and classism in cinema, there is no better genre to represent them as horror, with this I am not saying that this great genre represents these issues, but for the quality of several of its characters, they fit better within what is horror; after explaining my opinion about Jordan's use of this genre in his stories, surely it was expected that in his third film it would also be horror, but after watching this film I could witness that it is only a part and that there are many more things that are perceived in this story and that is that the influence of westerns, science-fiction, adventure, family drama and comedy, is more than evident in this complete film and they create a solid base for the new critique that this screenwriter proposed and that refers to the use of spectacle, how far can someone go to create something "spectacular" and reach fame; I know that this topic is not original by far, but the criticism that Jordan makes is something current where every time the tragic has become entertainment because it seems that it can last longer in the minds of some people, it becomes something more striking and that is why it does not matter who suffers, the important thing is to make relevant that suffering to be noticed again at some point. I think the directness and simplicity of how it is shown in this film is what I liked the most and there is an important balance between homage to cinema and criticism; that is the best thing about the film.
Las actuaciones de Daniel Kaluuya y Keke Palmer como los hermanos "OJ" y "Em Haywood" es un gran representativo de una importante parte de esta historia; la actuación de Kaluuya nos demuestra como un hombre con una vida tranquila definida por los sueños de su padre, deberá cambiar y enfrentar la realidad cuando justamente quien lideraba todo ya no está; en todo momento vemos a una persona solitaria y vacía la cual su vida se rige por cumplir con ciertas tareas; pienso que este actor realiza una buena actuación porque con los gestos y su actitud demuestra lo duro que se ha convertido su vida y más cuando ve que el mundo que conoce se va desmoronando al perder todo poco a poco; algo diferente es el personaje de "Em" que no es apegada a nada, parece que no sufre por la perdida de su familia, no tiene responsabilidades, ya que vive el día a día; la actuación de Palmer es sumamente difícil de obviar porque se adueña de cada escena, es luz, diversión, irreverencia, fuerza y sí, su personaje es muy diferente al que realiza Kaluuya y esto no es una casualidad porque a parte del tema del uso del espectáculo o del homenaje al cine, existe también la discusión sobre el controlar o domar a algo o alguien y estos personajes demuestran a alguien que vive controlado por obligaciones y otro libre sin responsabilidades; ellos son importantes, tiene el peso de ser parte de un problema o de hacerle frente; ambos son perfectos.
The performances of Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer as the brothers "OJ" and "Em Haywood" is a great representative of an important part of this story; the performance of Kaluuya shows us how a man with a quiet life defined by the dreams of his father, must change and face reality when the one who led everything is no longer there; at all times we see a lonely and empty person whose life is governed by fulfilling certain tasks; I think this actor gives a good performance because with his gestures and his attitude he shows how hard his life has become and more when he sees that the world he knows is crumbling as he loses everything little by little; something different is the character of "Em" who is not attached to anything, it seems that she does not suffer for the loss of her family, she has no responsibilities, as she lives day by day; the performance of Palmer is extremely difficult to ignore because he takes over every scene, he is light, fun, irreverence, strength and yes, his character is very different from the one performed by Kaluuya and this is not a coincidence because apart from the theme of the use of the show or the homage to the movies, there is also the discussion about controlling or taming something or someone and these characters show someone who lives controlled by obligations and another free without responsibilities; they are important, they have the weight of being part of a problem or facing it; both are perfect.
NOPE es una de las mejores películas que he visto en lo que va de año, siendo sincero está en mi top 3, es muy bien dirigida, escrita y con muy buenas actuaciones; me parece genial que Jordan Peele haga un claro homenaje al cine que realizo Spielberg, en especial con el film "JAWS" que pienso que es una de las grandes influencias en gran parte de este film, en especial en ese gran último acto; aparte de eso creo pienso que por ser una historia muy enfocada a todo lo referente al espectáculo, era justo que pueda ser considerada como un "Meta Film" porque hay muchas referencias a programas y actores reales, que puede ser considerados como parte de la cultura pop, aunque son conocidos más que nada por el público americano, pero hasta el mismo film en sus diálogos invita al público del mundo que si no conocen o no tiene noción de muchas cosas, entonces podrán buscarlas en el internet, eso me pareció genial y por esos detalles que podrán ser considerados como simple es que pienso que este debe ser el mejor guion que ha realizado Peele que cada vez más con sus nuevas producciones muestra una evolución en su manera de escribir y de dirigir. Creo que muchas personas son víctimas por cómo deben percibir está película; muchos pensaron que sería otra de terror y personalmente al empezar a verla pensaba igual, pero al final pude entender la definición que dio su creador y es la del Blockbuster Veraniego y es tal cual porque recoge muchas características que he descrito en esta publicación y eso la hace que sea uno de los films más entretenidos que he visto en el año, me aparece genial que no se mantenga en un solo género y que explore muchos más porque hace crecer la historia y la convierte en impredecible. Mi consejo para quien no haya visto este film es que tengas expectativas, no sé centren en los anteriores trabajos de este director, no piensen en un solo género, no se enfoquen en el origen de la gran dificultad que deben enfrentar los protagonistas, disfruten de la historia que relatan cada personaje que aparece en el film y puedo asegurar de que la pasarán muy bien.
NOPE is one of the best movies I have seen so far this year, to be honest it is in my top 3, it is very well directed, written and with very good performances; I think it is great that Jordan Peele makes a clear tribute to the films made by Spielberg, especially with the film "JAWS" which I think is one of the great influences in much of this film, especially in that great last act; apart from that I think that for being a story very focused on everything related to the show, it was fair that it could be considered as a "Meta Film" because there are many references to real shows and actors, which can be considered as part of pop culture, although they are known mostly by the American public, but even the film itself in its dialogues invites the public of the world that if they do not know or have no notion of many things, then they can look them up on the internet, that seemed great to me and for those details that could be considered as simple is that I think this must be the best script that Peele has made, that more and more with his new productions shows an evolution in his way of writing and directing. I think many people are victims for how they should perceive this film; many thought it would be another horror film and personally when I started watching it I thought the same, but in the end I could understand the definition given by its creator and it is the Summer Blockbuster and it is just like that because it gathers many characteristics that I have described in this publication and that makes it one of the most entertaining films I have seen in the year, it seems great to me that it does not stay in a single genre and explores many more because it makes the story grow and makes it unpredictable. My advice for those who have not seen this film is to have expectations, do not focus on the previous works of this director, do not think in a single genre, do not focus on the origin of the great difficulty that the protagonists must face, enjoy the story told by each character that appears in the film and I can assure you that you will have a great time.
Cover image edited in canva; the image was taken from the following source
