“Asu mare: los amigos” has been released in theaters and seems to be the last film related to the Carlos Alcántara saga. Photo: composition LR/Tondero
Carlos Alcántara has premiered “Asu mare: the friends”, the last drop of a saga so squeezed that, in an attempt to offer the public a breath of fresh air, it no longer focuses on portraying passages from the life of ‘Cachín’, but on the coexistence of his friends: ‘Poroto’ (Emilram Cossío), ‘Lechuga’ (Franco Cabrera), ‘El coolie’ (Andrés Salas) and ‘El flat’ (Miguel Vergara). Although the intention of making a comedy with heart is felt, the truth is that the plot does not take long to wash away the essence of the franchise and becomes an untenable story, which resorts to easy laughter.
Easy laugh like the constant rudeness at each end of the sentence; a war of paints in which they throw themselves to the ground in the face; or that sequence in which they are chased by an inspector and a bag with vomit jumps out of the window of a motataxi directly onto the windshield.
“Asu mare: friends” moves away from the life of ‘Cachín’ and focuses on that of his friends. Photo: composition LR/Tondero
A commercial camouflaged in almost 2 hours of someone else’s grief
“The friends” introduces us to four protagonists, including ‘Poroto’ to fill the void left by the long-announced absence of ‘tarron’ (Ricardo Mendoza). The story begins in the neighborhood of Mirones, when these characters were children and only played.
As time goes by, they are still as close as before, but now they each have their own problems, mostly related to lack of money. ‘Bean’ is being evicted from his house, ‘El coolie’ earns little in a job he doesn’t like, ‘Lechuga’ has been fired for the third time and ‘El chato’ owes about 12,000 soles in ballots.
In this context, the house of Ramón (deceased uncle of the character played by Emilram Cossío) jumps like a kind of Macguffin to move the plot forward. This is how we see that Promart sponsors the remodeling of the house, with everything and the promoter that appears in its TV commercials included.
If the money is missing, Interbank is there to save the day. It is that “Los amigos” does not bother to hide its sponsors, because it even includes scenes that look like tutorials to ask for loans. In fact, there is a sequence that even jokes about this topic, as ‘Lettuce’ is heard saying that only he will be paid for making the mention. Ha ha.
“Asu mare 4” is the debut of ‘Cachín’ as a director. Photo: composition LR/Tondero
Oh, by the way, ‘El Chato’ is the one they grab on this occasion. The script is not afraid of ridiculing its characters, but this is a case that is practically about bullying camouflaged as love for life colleagues.
The villain is a mayor, very cartoonish and even looks like he came out of a JB sketch, who has hidden illicit money in Uncle Ramón’s house. His plan was to remove the new occupants and he ends up getting arrested when they set him up, and his statements are heard by everyone (what a surprise!).
‘Cachín’, a director with a YouTube tutorial, but it’s not his fault: is it?
Peru has famous and acclaimed film directors. Counted, but there are. Francisco Lombardi is a clear example. “Asu mare: los amigos” has… Carlos Alcántara, a filmmaker ‘formed by YouTube’.
“I haven’t studied directing, but now, when I had to direct, I started to watch some tutorials,” revealed the actor himself in dialogue with Henry Spencer (who, it is worth mentioning, reacted somewhat skeptically to what he had just heard ).
However, despite the fact that ‘Cachín’ is the name that heads the list of credits for being in charge of directing the project, the problem here is the script, so deficient that not even the charismatic (although somewhat forced) performances of the cast can bring out afloat.
In short, you realize that the script is determined to get laughs. And although he succeeded (laughter was heard in the room), the truth is that the disproportionate amount of them ends up getting in the way and taking away the focus of the main plot. Try not to be something more commonplace, but that’s all it remains: an attempt.
If you have room in your routine to go to the movies, better invest your time and money in movies that are worth it or stay home and watch Netflix.
People’s reaction to “Asu mare: friends”
With the announcement of “Asu mare: the friends”, the fourth film within this narrative, the viewers already had an opinion formed. It must be recognized that “Asu mare” is probably one of the most controversial sagas of local cinema.
Because? While one side screams that it represents the decline of Peruvian entertainment, others go to see these tapes because they know they are not going for a masterpiece and just want to have a good time. Even so, the polarization of the public is present.
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The reaction of the fans to “Asu mare: the friends”. Photo: Facebook capture
“Asu mare: the friends”: Cast
- Emilram Cossío as ‘Bean’
- Andrés Salas as ‘The Coolie’
- Miguel Vergara as ‘El Chato’
- Franco Cabrera as ‘Lettuce’
- Ximena Palomino as Melissa
- Fiorella Luna as Luciana
Will there be “Asu mare 5” or more movies in the saga?
There is no doubt that “Asu mare” unleashes all kinds of emotions. For this reason, many people hope that they will continue making more films in the saga. Could there be a fifth part (understanding “Friends” as a fourth installment)?
“I think more (films) can come, but not necessarily be called ‘Asu mare’. Here has begun a new stage in my professional career. I have a parallel as an actor and a director, where I have seen that the result is liking. I am putting my chest and back for criticism, but I did not make a film thinking that I want to give it to me as a director; This is a film generated by everyone, but with a personal touch from ‘Cachín’”, expressed Carlos Alcántara in dialogue with RPP.
Red carpet of “Asu Mare: the friends”
Where to watch “Asu mare: friends”, full movie online for free?
“Asu mare: the friends” is an exclusive theatrical release, which is why it can only be seen in the theaters of Cineplanet, Cinemark and more. However, it is possible that it could eventually be released on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, since other installments in the saga have passed through the services.
What does the word “Asu Mare” mean?
“Asu Mare!” It is an expression commonly used in Peru to imply astonishment or disgust for something, person or situation. It could be taken as a synonym for the exclamation “Wow!”.
The origin of the title “Asu Mare”
In Peru, the word Asu Mare is more of an expression that indicates amazement. Regarding how this phrase was used to name the productions of ‘Cachín’, the actor commented on the origin in an interview with Yako Eskenazi for “Estás en todos”: “From my need to do theater for several years and sometimes I had to go out alone and I always thought, what would it be like to be alone on stage? I said: I’m going to do my one-man show!
“He told me, make a list of what you would like to do and suddenly you have something clearer. I start to write; I want to imitate, sing, play… I got about 50 items and I said; Asu Mare!, and ‘Asu Mare’ the show was called. I started backwards, I started with the name,” he added.