¡Papita, Mani, Toston!
Without a doubt, today I am here to talk to you about two of the Venezuelan feature films that most represent our culture and our way of seeing life. It doesn't matter if you are an inveterate fan of baseball (the sport on which the plot is based) or not, in this film you will feel identified yes or yes.
Before I tell you more about it, I must give you a little more context, the Caribbean Series is currently taking place, which is the equivalent of the Copa America for Baseball and is being played in Caracas, Venezuela.
Although I am not a big fan of professional baseball, I must admit that I like it and I am very excited that it is being played in my country. What eventually led me to think about this series of movies inspired by Baseball and that undoubtedly marked a before and after in the cinematographic culture of Venezuela, since before its release, most of the productions based their story on crime and generally darker topics. Which honestly took me a bit away from the Venezuelan billboards.
Already put in Context and explained the reason why I decided to see this series of films again and because I think they are so great, I can explain a little about what each one is about. I'll try not to spoil too much, although I doubt anyone here hasn't seen at least the first installment.
First Delivery
The story begins with the narration of Andres, our protagonist in this first installment. He tells us about what Venezuela is like and shows us the types of baseball fans in our country. All this while we see images related to his narration. Without a doubt, this achieves a well-achieved immersion from the beginning of the film, which is already appreciated from the beginning.
Later they give us an unexpected turn, when Andres in his narration tells us that this is the story of how he met the woman of his life...
Our protagonist Andres, is not a very wealthy man, he is in fact a fairly average Venezuelan, who works in all the opportunities that are presented to him in order to survive and get ahead.
At the beginning of the film we see him working as an operator of a hot line for men. Which is quite fun to watch and believe it or not, it also represents an impressive advance and a very remarkable evolution in Venezuelan social culture. Since, as I said before, the previous films used to be quite dark and it was impossible to contemplate even the slightest trace of homosexuality in their plots.
On the other hand, here, it goes unnoticed and despite the fact that many will think and point out only the fun and comical part of the situation, it is still something unprecedented to see a heterosexual person be the minority in the workplace, when generally it tends to be reverse.
Due to unexpected and somewhat unusual circumstances, our Andres makes an appointment with Yulissa, our protagonist.
I would like you to tell me if this happens in her country, since I see it as a daily situation. In both families, they tease our protagonists and joke about her date a bit, making cheesy and sarcastic comments about it. Here is something common and very funny, has it happened to you? 🤔
Well, when the time came for the appointment, the waiter turned out to be one of the users of the hot line where our Andres works and he recognized him by his voice, his irrepressible emotion gave funny scenes and although Andres was embarrassed, it served to break the ice and then due to a specific situation, he thanked for having been recognized.
Another thing that I liked about this movie is the appearance of national brands and when I say brands, I am referring in part to the most recognized brands or companies in the country, such as Digitel, DirecTv... and many other brands that are not paying me to name them..
But, I am also referring to iconic figures and very dear to Venezuelans, as is the case of the great Emilio Lovera, an old-school Venezuelan comedian, who you have undoubtedly heard of at some time.
Emilio particularly has a leading role in a crucial scene of the film and it is partly thanks to him that the ending was able to develop.
Already! So far I will tell you, if you want to know more about the first part of the movie Papita, Maní, Tostón. You will have to look for it and see, without hesitation I can assure you that you will like it.
Opinion Quick
I think this movie has it all, maybe the first time it's a little hard to appreciate its layers. Although, seeing it a second time, you will be able to realize the depth of the story and how well developed the characters are.
With this movie you are going to laugh, you are going to cry, you are going to feel euphoria and above all you are going to feel peace. It's an All in One!
Second Delivery
The second installment of the film begins in a curious way, since this time it is Yulissa who narrates the story, after we see that they take her to a baseball stadium as a birthday surprise.
She also tells us a little about Venezuela, about how we all have a friend who never lies and there is nothing better than having a trusted mechanic. She also tells us that she has been home for 7 years with her worst enemy, a fan of the Leones del Caracas...
So yes, this movie takes place 7 years after the first movie.
The plot of this second part focuses on Yulissa, they make us see as soon as the film begins that she is suffering from memory problems, that she forgets where things are, forgets to pick up the child from school and even forgot to bring the money to pay for the doctor's consultation. doctor.
She also shows us that she tries very hard to be a perfect housewife, even though she still has trouble cooking and for some reason I don't understand, the kitchen constantly floods. They don't tell it in the plot, although we are going to imagine that she forgets to turn off the water faucet.
And yes, they also show us that she had a son together with Andres and that they still live in her grandfather's house, in La Pastora.
Despite the fact that this film is based on Yulissa, they do not stop giving prominence to our Andres, who in one scene is given the task of organizing a romantic anniversary dinner and although he makes some mistakes, one of them was that he gave him a gift. "Louis Griton" wallet undoubtedly shows that when you love a woman, men are capable of setting the bar very high.
Without a doubt, it caused me a certain nostalgia to see this scene, because despite the fact that they do not have great resources, they managed to make a beautiful anniversary dinner. I did something similar once...
In this same scene, they make us see that Yulissa's memory problems are a little more intense than we think, since she even forgot the anniversary.
Unfortunately, later they show us that they are serious.
It turns out that Yulissa has brain damage and is having mental lapses. It is not something permanent, although if she forgets everything she experienced in the previous movie.
She gets to such a point that she meets Andres in the waiting room of the neurologist's office and she doesn't recognize him. Then they show us Andres crying while she shows him the family photos ..
What will happen in the end? Well, you must see it. You must definitely see it.
Opinion Quick
I have two things to say, the first is that I liked how they gave Yulissa a leading role without making it seem forced. It is already well known that nowadays some film companies make abrupt turns in their scripts to give prominence to a female character and it is seen and felt how forced the transition was when watching the film. On the other hand, here it was very subtle and the other members of the cast were never left aside.
Final summary
Both films clearly reflect what it means to be Venezuelan. We are people who at the worst moments show our best side, that is why we hold the Guinness Record for the happiest country in the world. Yes, that information is true, investigate it.
Despite how fascinated I am with both installments, I think the second one had a worse editing than the first, there are scenes that I think are not in the right place or were simply added for no reason.
The second installment seems to have more sponsors and maybe that was the problem. Meeting deadlines and making art under pressure causes producers to make mistakes and the quality of the content to drop. That being said, I think the continuity of the story can be clearly understood.
Without a doubt, a couple of movies that you have to see at least once in your life ☺️
🚧 All the content used for this post comes from screenshots and GIF's created using the GIF Creator application and with the help of InShot Pro 🚧
🚧 40% of the translation was done by me and the rest using the Google translator. I apologize for the possible spelling errors, I'm just going for my second month of classes 🚧