Brugge Blog

When we were in La Antigua, Guatemala last August, we saw what looked like film crews in the streets. Asking around a bit, we found out that they were shooting a film called Looking For Palladin. We never got a good description of what the movie was really about, but there is a story about it in Revue magazine, and it sounds like one worth watching.

“Looking for Palladin is about the wisdom of age and the refuge formed within a smaller community,” says independent film pro-ducer Mahyad Tousi….
The story focuses on talent agent Josh Ross, who is sent to Guatemala in search of a retired actor, Jack Palladin. Young, arrogant Josh rushes in, full of himself and fully expecting to get the job done pronto and return to his cushy comfort zone in Hollywood a.s.a.p. But it doesn’t go that way. He is frustrated by the pace of life here. Further, “His disregard for the older actor mirrors his disregard for the community whose help he desperately needs in order to find Palladin,” says Tousi.

It also sounds like one we could watch with the kids.

“Josh finds Palladin, but he finds much more,” says writer-director Andrzej Krakowski. “He discovers something about aging, the way that one generation treats another in Guatemala, different from what he has known. It changes his life.” Josh finds Palladin with a group of other ex-pats who meet every day in a café. “He sees that they really care about each other.” The white-haired and bearded director bobs his head and throws out his arms with turned-up palms.
“This is Guatemala from its best side. It’s a positive film. There’s not one bad character in this film. They’re all good people. There’s no violence, no sex, no politics, no insurgencies,” Krakowski says.

For a country whose image in the international press is almost solely about the sad, bad and terrible things that have gone on there, I don’t see any reason not to celebrate another aspect of life there. Our kids saw the good and hard of life there and came away loving the place.

The film is apparently in the production phase right now, and not yet released.