The Substitute
A substitute teacher is forced to take a stand against a drug dealer in Diego Lerman’s critique of modern Buenos Aires.
Diego Lerman’s The Substitute is not only a film set in Buenos Aires but one which can be seen as being a film about Buenos Aires. Its title is a reference to the central character, Lucio (Juan Minujin), a professor called on to become a temporary replacement and to give classes on literature in a school in a rough inner-city area. But, while the importance of education is one of the film's themes and although we see Lucio gradually winning over the impoverished students, there is much more than that going on here. That he comes to be accepted by the youngsters is partly linked to the fact that he is the son of a much-loved local activist and community organiser, Roberto (Alfredo Castro). The father is known as the Chilean and has always been a champion of the people. Indeed, the political dimension plays a strong role in this film. Olmos (Augustín Rittano) is the local drug lord, a man with ambitions to become mayor by challenging the current holder of that post, Mayor Suarez. Roberto may want to keep out of that rivalry but he is basically a supporter of Suarez and keen to distance himself from any involvement with Olmos. But, with an election coming up, anything goes. When drugs are found in the school it leads the principal, Amalia (Rita Cortese), to believe that the amount discovered means that they have been planted. It’s a situation that becomes an excuse for the authorities to control the building and for a ministry inspector (Silvio Puertas) to sit in as an observer in Lucio's classes to check what is being taught and said.
If political and social pressures are emphasised, other elements are also part of the mix. Lucio becomes very concerned about the fate of one of the students, Dilan (Lucas Arrua), who has fallen into the clutches of Olmos and can only break free if he can be enabled to leave the country. Then there’s the situation of Lucio's ex-wife Mariela (Bárbara Lennie), a poet who appears to have left him for a woman, as well as the problematic attitude of their 12-year-old musical daughter, Sol (Renata Lerman). Her time is divided between both parents staying with each in turn but it is their shared decision over the next school that she should attend which she chooses to resist. If that feels like a side issue, that is even more the case with perfunctory scenes added in order to show Lucio starting a relationship with another teacher, Clara (María Merlino).
Bringing all these aspects together results in The Substitute giving something of an overall portrait of Argentinian society as seen in Buenos Aires today and that’s certainly revealing enough to hold the interest. The film is also helped to do that by the quality of the acting (the famous Alfredo Castro rightly sinks himself into the subsidiary role of Roberto and leaves it to Juan Minujin, well cast as Lucio, to be the focal point). Equally helpful is the able direction by Lerman, not least when the images (splendid photography by Wojciech Staron) bring out the sense of the school as an institutional building that dominates the individuals within. But, good as all this is, the various elements don't fuse satisfyingly enough for this to be a fully effective piece of storytelling. Some sub-plots fizzle out instead of being fully explored and, if the surprisingly erudite tone of the classroom scenes suggests a work far from the commercial norm, there are times when The Substitute offers plot developments that in this context seem rather too predictable (that applies to the death of one of the main characters and to a climax which builds up the action). But, despite this confirming that The Substitute is far from being a masterpiece, the film’s portrait of life in Buenos Aires is powerful enough and persuasive enough to make it worthy of your attention.
Original title: El suplente.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Juan Minujín, Alfredo Castro, Lucas Arrua, Bárbara Lennie, Rita Cortese, María Merlino, Renata Lerman, Brian Montiel, Agustín Rittano, Morena Anselmino, Jonathan Bogado, Silvio Puertas.
Dir Diego Lerman, Pro Diego Lerman and Nicolás Avruj, Screenplay Maria Meira and Luciana De Mello, from a story by Diego Lerman, Ph Wojciech Staron, Pro Des Marcelo Chaves, Ed Alejandro Brodersohn, Music José Villalobos, Costumes Sandra Fink.
Arcadia/Bord Cadre Films/Vivo Film/Pimienta Films/El Campo Cine-Sovereign Film Distribution.
112 mins. Argentina/Italy/France/Mexico/Spain. 2022. UK Rel: 20 January 2023. Cert. 15.
