The Liberator

There is arguably no single figure as important to the story of independence and democracy in the Americas as Simón Bolívar (1783-1830). The Venezuelan military and political leader played a critical role in ushering Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Peru, and Ecuador toward autonomy in the wake of Spanish domination. History has long cemented Bolívar's status as a visionary, but even during his lifetime he was commonly known by his people as "The Liberator."

Libertador is the title of Alberto Arvelo's enthralling Bolívar biopic, which serves as both an epic of struggle and a cinematic history lesson. Written by Timothy J. Sexton (Children of Men), the film shows us the moments in Bolívar's childhood that laid the seeds for his determination to defend the rights of indigenous and enslaved peoples. It depicts his marriage to María Teresa Rodríguez del Toro y Alayza and emphasizes the scar her untimely death left on his psyche. It reveals his subsequent descent into despondence and decadence in Europe before he rediscovered his social conscience and returned to South America for a series of arduous military campaigns — elaborately staged here, captured by cameras that sweep across vast landscapes gutted by cannon fire.

Bolívar is vividly embodied by Édgar Ramírez as a fierce, virile warrior with a heart. The Venezuelan actor already proved more than capable of playing a complex historical figure in Olivier Assayas's Carlos, and Libertador confirms his status as a rising international star. That it does so by having Ramírez play his home country's national hero makes this career triumph that much richer.

DIANA SANCHEZ