To Kill a Man


To Kill a Man is a 2014 Chilean-French drama film written and directed by Alejandro Fernández Almendras. The film premiered in-competition in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2014. It won the Grand Jury Prize at the festival.
On January 29, it premiered at 2014 International Film Festival Rotterdam and won the KNF Award. The film later screened at the 2014 Miami International Film Festival in The Knight Competition on March 10, 2014. It won the Critics Award at the festival. It also premiered in competition at 2014 Fribourg International Film Festival on March 30, 2014 and won the Special Jury Prize.
After its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Film Movement acquired the distribution rights of the film. The movie was theatrically released in the United States and Canada in fall 2014, followed with a VOD and DVD release.
The film was selected as the Chilean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.

Plot

A hard-working and poor Jorge and his family are terrorised by local criminal Kalule's clan. Jorge's teenage son boldly tries to stand up for his father, in result Kalule shoots the boy. Jorge and his wife, Martha, seek justice from the legal system but all their efforts go to vain. As Kalule is released after his two years sentence in prison. Jorge becomes ready to defend his family.

Cast

To Kill a Man received mostly positive reviews upon its premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.Variety reviewer Guy Lodge, called "“To Kill a Man,” a grim, fat-free revenge thriller that extracts an impressive degree of moral equivocation from its exceedingly simple premise."
John DeFore in his review for The Hollywood Reporter called the film "A quiet drama that cares as much about familial alienation as getting away with murder."
Carlos Aguilar of Indiewire grade the film B+ by saying that "Chilean director Alejandro Fernandez Almendras' third feature "To Kill a Man" is a quietly powerful character study that meditates on the ramifications of a family man's choice to defend his kind."
Lorri Vodi Rupard from The GATE praised the film by saying that "The tonality of To Kill A Man is that of stark desperation, the subject matter weighty. Still, woven throughout Alejandro’s undertaking there’s tangible humor and pathos as if one is watching an unanimated rip-off of WB’s Roadrunner where Wile E. Coyote has found Jesus and is less emaciated after all these years but still can’t get his man."
Chris Michael of The Guardian gave the film four out of five stars by saying that "This meticulous film squeezes Jorge ever tighter in its grip as his contemptuous wife, his vulnerable daughter and, you feel, his own pride demand that he stand up for his family when the authorities can't kiss it better. A terrifically tense first half culminates in a truly brilliant scene featuring a car alarm used as a lure. The pace subsequently sags, but it all ends with a dramatic pop as sharp as the first of only two gunshots in this menacing, morally agnostic film."

Accolades


YearAwardCategoryRecipientResult
2014Sundance Film FestivalWorld Cinema Grand Jury Prize: DramaticAlejandro Fernández Almendras
2014International Film Festival RotterdamBig Screen AwardAlejandro Fernández Almendras
2014International Film Festival RotterdamKNF AwardAlejandro Fernández Almendras
2014Miami International Film FestivalGrand Jury Prize - Knight CompetitionAlejandro Fernández Almendras
2014Miami International Film FestivalMiami Future Cinema Critics AwardAlejandro Fernández Almendras
2014Fribourg International Film FestivalGrand PrixAlejandro Fernández Almendras
2014Fribourg International Film FestivalSpecial Jury PrizeAlejandro Fernández Almendras