SBS Films - The good life

Set in Santiago in Chile, it's supposed to be a review of what IS the good life, but doesn't quite get there. There is a shallow linking of stories at the end as they pass each other in the street, catch the same bus etc. From the website:

"A hardworking social worker who educates prostitutes about safe sex discovers her teenage daughter has become pregnant; a salon owner and his loan officer begin a promising romance, but discover that work and pleasure, as well as family, often do not mix; and an aspiring clarinettist comes up."

There is also the minor sideline story of the sick prostitute who dies at end of the film (not really a spoiler) and leaves behind her baby son in a filthy little apartment. This is probably the more interesting story combined with the social worker, and indeed the social worker's story does dominate the film. So interesting because it's about another culture, showing other ways of living and being, but the story doesn't quite gel together totally.

Story : 7/10 really good idea, good characters, but ultimately unsatisfying level of depth.
Photography : 5/10 perhaps supposed to be gritty to show the feel of the city but i feel it only really works with the story of the street-working mother.

Director

• Andrés Wood

Cast

• Roberto Farías
• Aline Küppenheim
• Eduardo Paxeco