The Video Diary of Ricardo Lopez

July. 13,2000      
Rating:
7.5
Trailer Synopsis Cast

Intimate portrait of the social outcast Ricardo Lopez, chronicling the last days of his life in 1996 as he creates and sends a letter bomb rigged with sulfuric acid to Icelandic singer Björk and heads home to record his own suicide on video.

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Reviews

Kattiera Nana
2000/07/13

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

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Raetsonwe
2000/07/14

Redundant and unnecessary.

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InformationRap
2000/07/15

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

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Juana
2000/07/16

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

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ElijahCSkuggs
2000/07/17

If you've stumbled upon this little blurb of mine, you most likely know who Ricardo Lopez was, and you've also probably seen Ricardo decked out in his Sith-like make-up committing suicide. The Video Diary of Ricardo Lopez gives you a detailed look into the downward spiral of his depression and mental state.The 'movie' is a 104 minute 'highlight' reel of sorts that was taken from over 20 hours of home video footage Ricardo shot while he was planning his attempt to murder singer, Bjork. Which what began as a sort of mastermind plan to murder her, he began realizing he would never get away with it, and slowly his master-plan began unraveling, and so does he, and that death would ultimately be the best result for his plans.This film is a weird viewing experience. I knew of the demise of Ricardo. I've seen it. But consistently throughout the movie my mind would still hope that I'd see Ricardo see his folly, and witness him improve. But unfortunately, that's not the case, and any wishful thinking is all but useless energy.With only witnessing the suicide, you're left with a very simple impression; that he's just a psycho. Again, that is just not the case here. This is a classic case of mental illness, and watching his descent is must-see viewing if you're interested in the human condition. It's touching, intriguing, graphic, intimate and more than anything else, sad.

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picasims
2000/07/18

When I first saw this documentary, I felt like something was missing and I wanted to know more about what actually happened. And I think it's my sensationalist side that really wanted that because I realized that this documentary is not really about what happened, it's about how it happened. A lot of us saw the last part of Ricardo Lopez's project where he cuts his hair and paints his face with red painting before killing himself. Sami Saif really did a good job by not showing what was not important to understand how it happened. Lopez's psychological portrait is very well explained and everything was useful. We could feel the most bizarre feeling of confidence and solicitude at the same time in Ricardo's voice.It was very disturbing and very depressing. Because I really thought that no one in is family saw that he needed help. But he actually had plenty of psychological support. We can see that something is lacking in the medical system because this very smart but sick man needed more than just medication.Ricardo Lopez proved that we are more dangerous to ourselves than to others.

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