Viva Matanzas

"Chipadelia", "The poor man's Pink Floyd", "psychedelic space chamamé"... Dazzle Lights demands a certain amount of creativity from Dick el Demasiado, Alan Courtis and other music journalists as they seek to describe the indescribable Síquicos Litoraleños. Alejandro Gallo Bermúdez never tries to profile the members of the band from Curuzú Cuatiá; the director appears to respect the privacy of a group that keeps its distance with different outfits and an ongoing quest to alter perceptions. The documentary shifts between the cultural shockwaves made by the group from Corrientes at home and at European festivals and the unintended creation of a rural psychedelic scene at the North-East of Argentina, as well as an unexpected clash with the Curuzú Cuatiá native Cristian Osorio, found of the now defunct group Saltimbankis.

One day, Louis - who seems obsessed by weapons and all things related – visits his old school friend Ada. She is quickly won over and not long after they marry. After the wedding their honeymoon takes them to Verdun in northern France, where over 500,000 soldiers died during the First World War. Louis runs from one monument and cemetery to the next, like someone possessed, salivating because of how hard the fighting was there. Ada feels increasingly uneasy with her new husband. One day, he purposely has himself and Ada locked in at Fort Douamont where terrible events took place during the war. There he turns out to be a stark raving maniac.

The Spijkerbergs are an absurdly rich family, but they are also richly absurd. The father – a foolish, hotshot financier – collects miniature dioramas of historical atrocities as a hobby. Mother is a has-been prima donna fighting against the vagaries of age and fame. Inheriting their privilege and casual cruelty is daughter Amy, a rebellious if somewhat insular teenager longing to break out of her gilded cage. To gain a semblance of control over her cocooned existence, Amy produces an autobiographical mock-Kabuki performance that parodies her family.