Established in 1962, Cannes Critics’ Week (Semaine de la Critique) – conceived by the French Union of Film Critics to run alongside the Cannes Film Festival – showcases the work of talented up and coming directors. Over the years, this prestigious and selective event has promoted the early films of now renowned directors such as Wong Kar Wai (As Tears Go By), Ken Loach (Kes), François Ozon (Sitcom), and Julie Ducournau (Raw). Amongst this year’s selections is Simon of the Mountain (Simón de la Montaña), the assured debut feature from Argentinian director Luis Federico.
Inspired by Luis’ experiences as a teacher’s assistant in a drama school for disabled people, Simon of the Mountain is a humanistic coming-of-age tale set in a world all too often overlooked. We meet the titular Simon at the centre of a mountain windstorm, being interrogated by a young man named Pehuén (played by Pehuén Pedre, one of the students at the aforementioned drama school and one of the director’s frequent collaborators). Pehuén is on a school trip of sorts, but what Simon is doing there is something of a mystery… one of many that emerge over the course of the film. He identifies himself as a mover’s assistant, and denies knowing how to cook, or clean the bathroom… but he does know how to make a bed – of that much, he’s sure. Why is Pehuén asking him these odd questions? They are the questions he will need to answer to secure his official disability certificate.
As Simon bonds with his new friends over games of hide and seek and trips to the pool, we sense something amiss. What exactly is the nature of Simon’s mysterious disability? Is he pretending to be something he’s not? It’s a testament to the absorbing and layered performance of lead actor Lorenzo Ferro that we’re never quite sure. Following an incident at the pool, Simon’s mother (Laura Névole) is called in to meet with the supervisor. She seems completely at a loss as to why her son is spending time with this group, but is less than explicit with her concerns.
Back at home we catch a glimpse of the other side of Simon’s life. At home, and at work with his mother’s boyfriend Agustín (co-writer Agustín Toscano) Simon seems remarkably lucid. Gone are the shaky head movements he exhibits with his friends, though he retains the affectation of an apparently unnecessary hearing aid borrowed from Pehuén’s crush. His mother and Agustín express concern over his motivations for spending time with this new group, accusing him of mocking their disabilities. However, observing his clear longing for belonging and acceptance, something much more complex seems to be at work. Profoundly lonely and suffering mental health issues of his own, Simon has managed to find a deep sense of connection with the silly and confident Pehuén and his close-knit group of friends, and a kinship beyond any differences that might exist between them.
As the complexity of Simon’s background is exposed, the sweet romance he seemed to be developing with an outgoing girl named Colo (Kiara Supini) – a young woman with Down’s Syndrome – takes on a more uncomfortable character for the viewer. But Colo is no fool. Once she sees through the cracks in his façade, his carefully constructed persona unravels and that threatening loneliness looms over him once again. Back at home his mother has had enough and tells him she’s kicking him out of the house. Unable to cope, he breaks out in a dangerous rage and is carted off to the psych ward. As he is interviewed in an eerily similar fashion to the start of the film, we get closer to an understanding of this troubled young man, but are offered no final resolution.
Luis, already an accomplished short film director (La Siesta premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019), here proves himself a talent worthy of consideration alongside his much-lauded predecessors. Crafting at once an engrossing mystery and an emotional portrait of adolescence of extraordinary sensitivity, he taps into the universal pain of coming-of-age while challenging our perceptions of disability.
Simon of the Mountain premieres in competition at Cannes Critics’ Week.
© 2020-2024. UniversalCinema Mag.