IFFK Bytes: Soy Nero- Deadly Ironic

Soy Nero was a stunning watch in the second day of IFFKA 2016. The movie has its plot based on an act which enables deported outsiders to acquire green card by joining US army and fighting. Green card soldiers were extensively used in middle east. The movie disorients you by shifting it's pace, geography and priorities abruptly, but by the end effortlessly manages to bind itself together and put forward a direct political statement.

It's the story of Nero, who was born and brought up in USA, but deported to Mexico. He is ready to join the army and fight for USA as he feels it's his only chance to be a proud American. The movie portrays the journey that Nero undertakes to realise this ambition and the deadly ironies that he has to face on the course of it.

The movie starts with a joke about an ant and an elephant being in love. By the end it is revealed that this ironical situation is precisely the plot of it. It starts as a road movie, proceeds as a comedy and culminates as a war movie. Yet it stays true to its core idea throughout. The movie is beautifully and artfully shot, especially the war scenes which are chilling to say the least. The fireworks scene in the starting is another startling display. The humor is stinging.

But the movie truly excels in the ironic statements it makes. It starts in the very beginning when police question Nero of his identity. Nero's quest for his identity and the solution of dying to protect it seems to be the limit of irony, but the movie neatly caps it when it shockingly displays in the end that even that is not enough and it's all back to square one.