Two Shots Fired: Irrationality Rationalised

Following on from my exploration of stalled masculinity in Martin Rejtman's first feature film, Rapado, here I'll be looking at similar themes in a film Rejtman directed over two decades later. To see my earlier post, click here.

*

Martin Rejtman's 2014 dark comedy, Two Shots Fired (or, Dos Disparos) marks the director's return to full-length feature filmmaking after a decade-long hiatus. By and large, it also resembles a return to Rejtman's filmmaking roots, with a sea of narrative similarities to his debut feature Rapado (1992).

In Two Shots Fired, Rejtman once again tells the story of a flawed male protagonist navigating his way through his adolescence. Much like in Rapado, Rejtman flexes the same creative techniques that made his first feature film so successful, and that inaugurated the beginning of the New Argentine Cinema movement.

The main difference between Rapado and Two Shots Fired is, in the latter, Rejtman's core techniques and thematic explorations are even more honed, creating a story that can only be described as purely Rejtmanesque.

Irrationality Rationalised

Two Shots Fired begins with our protagonist, Mariano, at a nightclub in Buenos Aires - Rejtman's cinematic stomping ground. The following day, Mariano returns home on the bus, goes swimming in his outdoor pool at his family's house, mows the lawn, and then goes into the shed and shoots himself in the head and then in the stomach.

This sequence of events may appear alarming to some, but it's a deadpan technique that is a key part of Rejtman's filmmaking identity. Absurdly, Mariano survives the incident and returns home the following week largely unscathed.

While the shooting resembles the primary focus of the narrative, for me, the build-up to the shooting is perhaps even more so fascinating. There's this incredible scene where Mariano is mowing the lawn wearing swimming shorts and a pair of goggles, and personally, I think this image perfectly sets the tone of Rejtman's movie. Ultimately, this film is about people outside of normality, it's a series of irrational moments condensed and shot in a rational way.

Mariano is not depressed. When asked why he shot himself, he says it was because he was hot. In an interview, Rejtman said:

'My idea was that the weather was so hot that you would do things you wouldn’t normally do. Also, when you find a gun, you either have to hide it or do something with it, so he decides to do something. He mentions in voice-over that the first bullet grazed his head, which is why he could survive to shoot himself a second time.'

In light of his actions, Mariano's mum tries to dispose of the gun and begins hiding all the knives in their house, while Mariano's brother tries to make him take his medicine. Mariano may not be conventionally depressed, but he is suffering from the general malaise of existing, and his light, infrequent narration imbues the story with a sense of retrospect and reflection.

Director, Martin Rejtman

In many ways, Mariano plays a very similar role to that of Lucio in Rapado. When asked about why Rejtman likes making films about young people, he said:

'I started writing in my teens and early twenties. It’s a moment when people are still defining themselves. People are a little undefined when they are young, and I like a lack of definition of characters. You cannot have it in all of them, but in some characters I like it because it’s a way for them to be permeable to others.'

This outlook can generally be evidenced in both movies, with permeable protagonists undermining the reliability of the conventional narrator.

At heart, Two Shots Fired represents an awe-inspiring return to the forefront of Argentina's film scene, combining the experiences of the past with the energy of the present to bring something truly unique to the table.