‘Powerful Chief’ Review: Quiet Peruvian Drama Spotlights the City of Puno

Henry Vallejo’s unassuming, near-vérité drama “Powerful Chief” takes its title from the originary figure who founded the Incan Empire. Yet that historical reference, no doubt lost on those not well-versed in Andean indigenous history, serves less as necessary context for the film than as an added bit of perspective. The specter of the vast Incan Empire may not loom over these images of the bustling city of Puno but it does make the film’s urban tale feel like a parable for modern-day Peru, one that cannot be told without acknowledging the country’s vexed colonial history and its peoples’ centuries-long migrations…. Read Full Article