Reviews From the 2020 Another Hole In The Head Film Festival
by
Peter Wong
on
December 15, 2020
One of the 2020 Another Hole In The Head Film Festival’s offerings shows why the slogan “All Cops Are Bastards” may be far truer than the average person may be comfortable with. Amadeo Canonico’s “The Statement” gets at these truths by taking an oral wrecking ball to the wall separating its characters from their awareness of the audience and author.
The characters in question are a group of Brazilian Military Police officers in an unknown city. They’ve come to a greasy spoon diner to grab lunch on a “free (or else)” basis. While each cop eats, he or she looks directly at the camera and shares their thoughts about being a cop. They also mock popular attitudes about them and even the author’s attempts at realistically depicting their feelings and thoughts. Pointing out the artificiality of some of the words the author makes them utter is just one way of showing their contempt.