‘LA DOSIS’ The Angels of Death in ICU!
Yes, I absolutely believe in helping a loved one with assisted suicide. After my fathers cancer, seeing what he went through, how his body was ravaged by chemo and radiation stole his memories, euthanasia is the route to go.
The line between mercy killing and plain old murder is uncomfortably drawn in Argentine film “La Dosis.” Writer-director Martin Kraut’s movie sets up an intriguing conflict between one male hospital nurse whose early interventions are compassionate, while a new staffer’s seem motivated by pure malice.
A suspenseful thriller of a movie that will have your heart racing, thinking and most importantly, this taboo subject will sit with you. You’ll face it head on and come to realization that showing mercy to a loved one passing is the an act of love itself.
Thank you Carlos Portaluppi and Ignacio Rogers for answering a few of my questions. I’m forever grateful for your time and this masterpiece of a movie that you were part of!
Q&A
BelAirMommie: Why did you decide to be part of this movie?
IGNACIO: Well, from the very beginning I thought it was very attractive, well-written. I thought it was very interesting to play the role of this seductive, sinister, mysterious Gabriel Santos…charismatic. I though it was very fun to play this character and I also knew that Carlos was playing the leading role, Marcos, and I wanted to work with him because I always admired him. And I also knew Lorena was part of the cast and other actors that I like very much. And I found all this very fun, but in addition to it, I like to be in debut films, especially when I see that the director has a very clear idea and is very very passionate, because maybe sometimes a director will put his whole life into a debut film and that’s something you don’t see in every job and it’s very interesting to have that level of passion for your work.
CARLOS: In my case I mainly decided to do this movie because of the screenplay, which was very attractive, very very well-written, because I closely identified with my character since, for a prolonged period of time, I had experienced and seen in first person how one of my family members was cared for by nurses in a ICU and in the unit before being moved to the ICU. I really liked that I was able to bring this experience, and of course, it’s also about the pleasure of being part of a debut film by a young director as talented as Martin Kraut, who put together an extraordinary cast and artistic crew, where all of them put on the team’s t-shirt and worked together towards the same goal.
BelAirMommie: What did you learn from your character?
CARLOS: In my case, what I learned from my character is how he related to those people who are experiencing the end of their lives. I learned to distance myself, to separate some opinions…I learned to care for that which is truly necessary, which is to be by people’s side when they are in critical condition and the care they receive, the importance of dialogue and to listen, to listen more. That’s what I got from Marcos.
IGNACIO: Well, yes, I don’t know. I learned that, in a way, empathy is very important in this profession, not only as an actor but also as a nurse. Among health-care personnel, I think empathy, the limits and edges of empathy are very very important, because this thing that happens to me, that my blood pressure drops anytime there’s blood or whatever…I think, well, to be a nurse you have to be somewhat insensitive to certain things, meaning that if I am always suffering for others’ suffering I cannot be a nurse. But at the same time, if under no circumstances I am capable of considering that suffering, then you turn into someone inhumane, just like Gabriel, who lacks any kind of empathy. I mean not only is he not shocked nor suffers seeing others suffer, but he also inflicts pain onto others to get pleasure. Honestly, I am not sure that I learned anything specific, he just made me reflect on our nature as human beings.
BelAirMommie: What would you like viewers to learn from your character and this movie?
CARLOS: I’d like for people to see, beyond any fiction, that we could start thinking about the need for listening to terminal patients who are one step away from crossing the border, the gate that brings them closer to their deaths, what it is that we can do to help them shorten it. I find it necessary that those states, countries, societies that don’t contemplate this situation begin a debate and listen to various opinions from a medical, clinical and human stand-point.
IGNACIO: I’d like for this to help end taboo topics involving euthanasia, the power dynamics in the workplace and the healthcare personnel–patient relationship…that any topic can be discussed. I think that the movie provides a broad range of characters: you can have someone like Marcos, someone like Gabriel, anything in between, and possibly, a good lesson to learn would be just that, the end of taboos, that we can always discuss things.
Synopsis:
Marcos is an experienced nurse who works the night shift of a private clinic. He is successful and professional, though it is soon revealed that he uses his position to help suffering patients find early peace. A new nurse in the clinic, Gabriel, shakes the sector: he is young, intelligent, beautiful, and seduces everyone. He soon deciphers Marcos' secret and the clinic becomes a battle of wits and seduction. Marcos retracts until he discovers that Gabriel also dabbles in euthanasia, though for different reasons. This revelation forces him to confront Gabriel and Marcos knows that only by exposing his own true identity will he be able to stop him.
Goldwyn is releasing directly to U.S. VOD and digital platforms on June 11!
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