Customer Reviews

The Night Buffalo (El Bufalo de la Noche)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

So I have heard "The Night Buffalo" described as a disaster in terms of recent Mexican cinema. I understand that many viewers loath and revile this picture--so, while I'm not exactly going to buck the trend, I will emphatically proclaim that I've seen much worse. There are elements of a good film at work here--the premise is interesting and, quite frankly, the performances are solid (if occasionally underdeveloped). My main issue with "The Night Buffalo" comes with the expectations that I may have had upon initial viewing. The screenplay and book on which "The Night Buffalo" was based was penned by the esteemed Guillermo Arriaga. Don't know who that is? Among other works, he has four screenplays of some note--"Amores Perros," "21 Grams," "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada,' and the Oscar nominated "Babel." While those films have their detractors, I personally thought each was quite successful largely based on Arriaga's work.

"The Night Buffalo" lacks the intricacies of Arriaga's most intriguingly layered writing. If anything, it recalls the somber and very quiet tone of "Three Burials." But that film was a bleak western of isolation, desolation, and barrenness--its stoic lead was intrinsic to this rough tale of retribution. "The Night Buffalo" uses Diego Luna as an equally introspective protagonist, but in this emotion charged story--I'm not sure aloofness is the way to go! When his best friend, who is schizophrenic, kills himself--Luna must come to grips with what he feels is his responsibility in the matter. Luna is shacked up with his friend's ex-girlfriend and had a fling with his younger sister. So he searches for meaning in the death which causes him to start investigating various aspects of his friend's life that are ultimately linked to the shared girlfriend.

The metaphorical title is one element to the ambiguous story of darkness and a vision that haunted his friend. The meandering film really doesn't go very far and doesn't resolve very much. However, I do think "The Night Buffalo" perfectly illustrates the guilt and emptiness that Luna feels--which manifests itself in many sex scenes (the most talked about part of the film--with plenty of full frontal nudity by everyone). I'm not sure why everyone is so willing to bed Luna as his genuinely morose demeanor might be a bit of a downer in bed, but who am I to say? More effective at establishing a mood than following through with a story, "The Night Buffalo" is still an interesting failure. Not as bad as some would have you believe--but not at the level of his most sophisticated and successful films. About 2 1/2 stars. KGHarris, 10/10.

If you are looking for soft porn, and very little dialogue than this is the movie for you. Great bodies, and some kind of actions if that works for you. For those that actually look for a complex or some what of a complex... or better yet and type of story line... than this is not for you.

I just have to agree with the majority of the reviews here: One of the worst movies I have watched. I thought that all of the other films I have seen that were based on Arriaga's screenplays--Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Babel, The Burning Plain--were very good, some excellent, and all genuinely thought provoking, so I was really looking forward to this one. No such luck. As others observed, there was too much sex and it was pointless. The story was threadbare--whether Arriaga's own screenplay or the inadequate realization by the director is to blame, I have no idea--but, what was most maddening, there were enough little elements promising more than was delivered to make this film especially disappointing.

Unless you are writing a thesis on Arriaga and are obligated to see everything that has his signature, don't waste your time on this one.

This movie is bad. Let me explain why:
First of all, the DVD box says it has Dolby Digital 5.1, but it sounds as if it were Dolby Surround, I mean you'll only get sound from the 3 front speakers, nothing will come from rear in this movie.
There's no conflict in this story, the main character is not forced to make decisions, to sacrifice something to achieve his goals, he doesn't even have a goal, he doesn't develop, he isn't confronted with somebody or something, he just spend the whole movie having sex with every girl that appears. The story takes you nowhere.
There are a lot of uncomfortable silences between the characters and the dialogs are very stereotyped. Don't waste your money and time watching this one.

In the best tradition of Latino-American stories, two males and female enjoy each other ages, from schoolhood, or.

More, probably, kind Gregorio, a self-mutilating schizophrenic, takes an upper hand being the Tanya's first and then got married her still fancying Manuel.

A story of lust, love triangle and dramatic end, where flashing male-hoods might attract some audience additionally.

a good movie with a good cast of characters. i enjoyed it but probably will only watch it once. not a movie i would re-visit over and over.

The sex on the movie is great. Not only is it erotic with both boys and girls baring all in their European hotness - I liked both - but the sex is the only element of the action, the plot, the movement of the characters that works. The contrast of sexual expression as it varies from person to person and as it varies in one person with different partners and across time, that's the interesting thing. This isn't reason enough to see the movie.

There's a comparison between the genuine mental illness of one character and the grief of another character when a friend dies. That's offensive and just plain wrong. Mental illness is a different thing, a true variation in organization of the brain that causes terrible problems for the person who has it and unfortunately for his or her family and friends. Being a loser who gets really upset when his friend dies is a totally different thing. I found myself responding to the psychotic character a great deal, probably more than the average viewer, because of my firsthand experience.

The movie is just all bad. There's not enough exploration of motivations and backgrounds of some of the characters because screen time is taken up by pensive silence that would be filled with emotion if the lead man and woman could act. She's snively and dumb. He's stoic and dumb. Blech.

I just finished reading this book and it is a TERRIBLE book. I bought it for $1 and read the back, thinking it would be somewhat good and it was a complete waste of my time. I don't understand how this book was even published. And a DVD too? If you want a stupid pointless book/movie full of sex and nudity, look no further.