Chinese mobsters breed mutated rabbits
Ana (Haien Qiu) is Chinese, but not entirely. She doesn’t speak the language of her fellow countrymen but her features allow her to move comfortably inside Chinatown in Buenos Aires. She works for the City Government, and is in charge of granting legal permits for the opening of buildings, stores and lounges provided all safety and sanitary requirements are properly met. One ordinary day, she refuses to issue a permit for a dubious affair. As a result, she’s pursued by Chinese local mobsters who are involved in labour exploitation of Asian immigrants.
So she escapes to her country home in a small town in Buenos Aires province, and finds out that almost everybody has abandoned the place long ago. It so happens that there’s a plague of genetically mutated, carnivorous rabbits that have first devoured the crops, then moved on to the cattle at large. Enter the Chinese mob again. Determined to kill Ana for discovering their link with the crazed rabbits (who else could it be?), they head straight to her country house. Luckily for her, Ana doesn’t stand alone as a few remaining fellows come to her rescue at once.
As you can see from the storyline, Mujer conejo (Rabbit Woman), written and directed by Argentine filmmaker Verónica Chen, is not exactly what you’d call an easy film to make. Its premise is kind of preposterous, but if not taken that seriously and embracing the bizarre scenario, it could work out. The thing is, it needs the right tone, and a smart but playful crossbreeding of genres. The problem is that none of that is to be found in Mujer conejo, a feature that strives hard to be different, and yet ends up rather trite.
What starts off as a drama — peppered with an underwritten sentimental liaison — never gets to be compelling enough for viewers to care about the characters; it then attempts to become a mafia thriller, but it lacks tension and an atmosphere of danger; when the mutated rabbits show up, it’s meant to slide into a horror movie, but there’s nothing creepy about it; and by the time it ends, the Western showdown is both risible and badly shot. Add to that some animated scenes interspersed with real takes, with no justified dramatic criterion whatsoever.
As for the actors (Haien Qui, Luciano Cáceres, Gloria Carrá, Héctor Díaz, and Daniel Valenzuela), let’s say their performances are of not much help since their characters are way underdeveloped. You can see they’re doing their best, yet best intentions can only go so far. However, there are a couple of good things about Chen’s film: its cinematography and the editing. For the most part, the camera is well paced and does capture the colour of the places as well as the actors’ expressions and gestures.
And the editing ensures the rhythm is well balanced, and hence never drags. Come to think of it, the sound design also builds some kind of an oppressive ambiance.
But what matters the most, meaning the narrative, is awfully flawed.
