Spotlight on Mexico

A few stellar recent films highlight some of Mexico’s contemporary issues and humanize the plight of citizens much more than traditional North American newspapers do.

Gods of Mexico (2022, Helmut Dosantos)
La Civil (2021, Teodora Mihai)
Identifying Features (2020, Fernanda Valadez)
Prayers for the Stolen (2021, Tatiana Huezo)
Nudo Mixteco (2021, Ángeles Cruz)
Dos Estaciones (2022, Juan Pablo González)

The hard working life

Helmut Dosantos’s Gods of Mexico provides an immersive journey through the Mexican countryside and landscapes. The film details the daily hardworking rituals people go through in order to make money.

The film is packed with many powerful stunning images, many of which are portraits akin to still photographs with people posing for the camera against the background of their houses or their job site. These images give the experience of walking through an art gallery but one where the pictures are alive and looking back at the viewer.

There is hardly any dialogue in majority of the film and sometimes there is pure silence. In other cases, the sounds of the activities or jobs fill the frame. There is an explosion or two, as some still jobs require things to be blown up. 

The final segment filmed in a mine features some very creative camera angles. The underground shots are shrouded in darkness as the camera follows the miners on their daily chores. Yet, the overhead shots of the mines from the sky have an eerie mythical horror feeling. Those shots could easily be in a horror film where sinister evil lies underneath the ground. Yet, given the working conditions in the mines and how miners put their lives and health at risk is perhaps horror itself.

Disappearances and Kidnappings

La Civil, Identifying Features and Prayers for the Stolen are linked by disappearance of children and all feature mothers who are determined to either find their kids or keep them safe. In all 3 films, gangs are involved in the disappearances although in La Civil and Prayers for the Stolen, drug cartels are involved as the films highlights the impact of gang operations on ordinary citizens. Identifying Features features different gangs whose operations look to profit from the thousands of cross-border migrations.

In La Civil, Cielo (played remarkably by Arcelia Ramírez) goes to great lengths to find her daughter who is kidnapped by local gangs for ransom. The film depicts the operations and logistics of how gangs kidnap locals for quick cash. In the film's case, the gangs kidnap from middle class families and poorer households that are already struggling to make ends meet. Corruption is everywhere with local police in on the take. Military are brought in to help yet they don’t understand the workings of towns they are parachuted into and to make matters worse, the military aren't trusted by the locals. The military impose curfews and drive around brandishing their weapons. The gangs are also well armed themselves with many employing young men and women, at times indistinguishable in age from their kidnapped victims.

La Civil is directed by Romanian director Teodora Mihai whose touching 2014 documentary Waiting in August is a lovely portrayal of children left to fend for themselves while their parents go abroad to work. In La Civil, she brings that documentary eye to proceedings and shows a mother who is left on her own. Cielo encounters other mothers or parents whose children are also taken away and tries to enlist their help for information.

In Prayers for the Stolen, Rita (Mayra Batalla) is constantly vigilant that her daughter Ana isn’t one of those whose name gets added to the missing people’s list, a list that tragically grows every time the cartel drive into their village. 

Rita even gets Ana’s hair cut short so that she looks like a boy and would be left alone. The film features many quiet powerful moments that highlight the locals daily struggle to survive. One of the many memorable images from the film is that of all the villagers standing on a hilltop at night time trying to contact their relatives. The hilltop is the only place where locals can get a cell signal. The night sky is lit up by the brightness of the numerous cell phones as each person is trying to contact a relative in a far off location either to ask for money or to verify their well being.

In Identifying Features, Magdalena (Mercedes Hernández) undertakes a journey to the US-Mexican border to find her missing son. The promise of a better life in USA led the son to the US but when he goes missing, Magdalena retraces his journey in the hopes of finding him or getting some answers. The film depicts the brutal dangers that migrants have to navigate in their quest to safely cross the border.

Urban-Rural Divide

Ángeles Cruz’s Nudo Mixteco uses the plight of three characters to highlight the divide between traditional vs contemporary values and ideologies. The three characters, María (Sonia Couoh), Esteban (Noé Hernández) and Toña (Myriam Bravo), return to their village located in Oaxaca for different reasons and their paths interconnect without each knowing of the other’s situation. The film’s muted colour palette and tone lends an air of authenticity to events while highlighting the gulf that exists in ways of thinking between a city and a rural town/village even though the two are separated by a few hours. This urban-rural divide can be found in all parts of the world including Mexico’s North American neighbours US and Canada.

Tequila

Tequila is one of the more common associations of Mexico around the world. Yet, the drink and associated agave plant haven’t featured in a film like Juan Pablo González’s brilliant Dos Estaciones. This is easily one of the best films of 2022 and one of the best recent contemporary Mexican films. It is also one of those rare Mexican films devoid of crime and cartels. The film looks at the struggle of María Sánchez (Teresa Sánchez) to keep her Tequila factory afloat in the midst of a plague that threats the quality of the agave plant. In addition, she has to make hard decisions about the employment of her factory workers, some of whom she treats like family, and the future of her factory ownership while attempting to stay independent and not sell her factory to a larger corporate chain like others around her.

Dos Estaciones is beautifully filmed with a smart blend of documentary and artistic elements. There are many shots of María Sánchez walking around the factory that evoke the cinema of Dardenne brothers  Impressively, the film elevates tequila tasting and shows that it is a spirit that can be appreciated and sipped like wine and beer, something that isn’t that well known in a world where lower quality and cheaper versions of tequila are liberally poured in cocktails.

The Border Crossing

Desierto (2015, Mexico/France,  Jonás Cuarón)
Signs Preceding the End of the World, written by Yuri Herrera

For the last year, much of the news has been around illegal border crossings. This has not only been about borders in North America but around the world. However, the North American borders have gotten more attention due to the talk of building a wall costing billions of $$$. Buildings walls doesn’t come close to addressing the question for why people illegally cross the border in the first place. If the nations on both sides of the border were equal in every aspect, then there would no need for people to make illegal border crossings. Walls don’t highlight the financial burden people impose on their family to make such an illegal border crossing not to mention the physical and mental hardships associated with such a journey. Each border crossing is a gamble, a throw of the dice not knowing the outcome.

Jonás Cuarón’s Desierto depicts the dangers that come with such an illegal border crossing and what he has shown makes for grim viewing. The film gives ittle to no backstory about each character but it is evident that each person has their own reason for making the dangerous journey. Once the characters cross the border, the characters become prey to a man who drives a truck with a confederation flag. The man doesn’t believe in law and order and considers it his job to protect his nation’s border by killing as many border crossers as possible. The film was released back in 2015 but it is easy to know in real life which candidate this man would have voted for in 2016.

Desierto is a hunter-prey film with little dialogue and its most significant moments come when the camera pulls back to depict the vastness of the border, the vastness of the rugged landscape that is enough to defeat a person without any human intervention. It is in these moments of the border’s visual depiction that the film forms a bridge to the poetic depiction of the border crossing in Mexican author Yuri Herrera’s remarkable book Signs Preceding the End of the World. Herrera’s book is just over a hundred pages and moves at a fast breathless pace. The plot is creative and delightful but the book’s genius is how it abstracts elements related to the border crossing, both to the people making the journey and the objects they carry. In a few words, the book highlights the importance each person has with the objects they take:

“Rucksacks. What do people whose life stops here take with them? Makina could see their rucksacks crammed with time. Amulets, letters, sometimes a huapango violin, sometimes a jaranera harp. Jackets. People who left took jackets because they’d been told that if there was one thing they could be sure of over there, it was the freezing cold, even if it was desert all the way. They hid what little money they had in their underwear and stuck a knife in their back pocket. Photos, photos, photos. They carried photos like promises but by the time they came back they were in tatters.”

Desierto depicts this as well when Gael García Bernal’s character takes a teddy bear with him on his border crossing because it was something given to him by his son.
 

Herrera’s book also addresses how the border crossers are perceived. The following words are universal and could apply to countless people who make their dangerous journey across the border in search of a better life:

“We are to blame for this destruction, we who don’t speak your tongue and don’t know how to keep quiet either. We who didn’t come by boat, who dirty up your doorsteps with our dust, who break your barbed wire. We who came to take your jobs, who dream of wiping your shit, who long to work all hours. We who fill your shiny clean streets with the smell of food, who brought you violence you’d never known, who deliver your dope, who deserve to be chained by neck and feet. We who are happy to die for you, what else could we do? We, the ones who are waiting for who knows what. We, the dark, the short, the greasy, the shifty, the fat, the anemic. We the barbarians.”

Maybe one day people will figure it out. One day, people might understand why people illegally cross the border and work on a solution that eliminates the need for people to make that journey. This is not only a North American problem, but one that is found all over South America, Africa, Europe and Asia. Any place where one nation is economically better than its neighbour will lead to illegal border crossings.

Miss Bala

Miss Bala (2011, Mexico, Gerardo Naranjo)

Gerardo Naranjo’s remarkable Miss Bala can perfectly be described by the phrase “wrong place, wrong time”. Unfortunately, in the case of Laura Guerrero (Stephanie Sigman), her presence at such a place manages to turn her life into a nightmare hours after she wins a dream spot in the Miss Baja beauty pageant.

Laura only manages to get an audition thanks to her friend Suzu (Lakshmi Picazo). Later that night, Laura goes to a party to find Suzu but comes across cartel members who secretly enter through the washroom.

Laura is spared by the gang leader Lino (Noe Hernandez) but Suzu disappears and several people at the party are killed. Suzu’s absence also causes Laura to lose her spot in the pageant so Laura is desperate to find her friend.

Laura finds a police officer and honestly tells him about the previous night’s happenings. However, the officer leads Laura to the gangsters and Lino.

Lino has feelings for Laura and uses her as a pawn in his operations. In return, he gets Laura her spot spot back in the beauty contest.

Laura pays a heavy price for finally realizing her pageant dream because her life becomes a living nightmare in which the cartel shuttle her from location to location, including border crossings. The cartel is omnipresent and its tentacles infiltrate every aspect of society around Laura. As a result, everyone that Laura reaches out to for help is either captured or eliminated by the cartel.

The film is loosely based on a real life story and shows how a constant war between police and criminals forces innocent people to choose sides and even conduct illegal operations. Choosing sides also involves acting as an informer and providing tips either for money or pure survival. With such an uncertain environment, it is not a surprize that many meetings are conducted away from plain view, either in the confines of a car or in a dark room. Naranjo smartly depicts this by framing many critical transactions in a car, including Lino’s rape of Laura.

The opening credits of the film shows an interesting poster collage of models and beauty contest winners. However, Naranjo also places the word “Fashion victim” on the wall as a nod towards the inspiration for the film’s story. Also, as noted by Satish Naidu, the collage contains a picture of Priyanka Chopra’s character from Madhur Bhandarkar’s film Fashion.

This placement is not a coincidence as Laura’s profile evokes Priyanka Chopra’s character from Fashion. Both characters can rightly be called fashion victims and are beautiful women whose lives are effected by the crime and corruption around them.

Copa America 2011: Mexico

Entry #4 for the Copa America 2011 Book & Film Festival.

Book: The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela

Mariano Azuela’s book gives a ground level view of the Mexican Revolution, a landmark historical event that continues to be a source of inspiration for literature and cinema. Revolutions are often messy and sometimes very bloody. Over time, the graphic details of a revolution are softened in favour of the legacy of the revolution and impact it had for the nation and its citizens. Azuela’s book, originally published in 1915, etches out such vivid characters and situations that ensures one will never forget the blood and sacrifice that went into the revolution. The book uses the character of Demetrio Macias as an anchor to depict the revolution and blood letting that occurred. At the start of the book, Demetrio is just a peaceful man but he is thrust into the struggle after his house is burnt down.

“Why didn’t you kill ‘em?”
“Their hour hasn’t struck yet.”
They went out together; she bore the child in her arms. At the door, they separated, moving off in different directions.
The moon peopled the mountain with vague shadows. As he advanced at every turn of his way Demetrio could see the poignant, sharp silhouette of a woman pushing forward painfully, bearing a child in her arms.
When, after many hours of climbing, he gazed back, huge flames shot up from the depths of the canyon by the river. It was his house, blazing....

The above lines come just four pages into The Underdogs and the book does not ease up after that but dives deeper and deeper into the eye of the storm. The Underdogs paints a stark picture of how some people break free from their principles when dealing with survival, poverty or power. The book is made up of quickly paced short chapters akin to scenes in a film. The words are carefully chosen and properly convey the sentiments of the characters without ever feeling dramatic or un-needed. Azuela’s book is a combination of his personal experiences and fictional recreation based on accounts he heard from soldiers and people effected by the revolution. The end result is a work that depicts many powerful scenarios that stay long in the memory.

Film: Duck Season (2004, Fernando Eimbcke)

Best friends Flama (Daniel Miranda) and Moko (Diego Cataño) have a fun afternoon planned out involving video games and pizza. Their video game duel is first interrupted by the young girl next door, Rita (Danny Perea), who wants to borrow the oven for some baking. The boys let her in and resume their gaming only to get hungry. They order pizza from a shop that promises the pizza will be free if it is not delivered under 30 minutes. The delivery man Ulises (Enrique Arreola) manages to arrive a shade under 30 minutes but the boys don’t open the door and count down the seconds until the 30 minutes are up. They then refuse to pay because they claim Ulises missed his deadline. Ulises refuses to leave until he has been paid and a showdown emerges between him and the two boys. Eventually the stalemate is broken when it is agreed the pizza money fate will be decided by a soccer video game. The game is in on the verge of completion when the electricity goes out, something which even disrupts Rita’s baking, a baking task that never seems to end. The four lay around on the couch and new friendships are developed and their personalities are altered due to the presence of some marijuana brownies. Ulises is not happy in his job and not pleased with the direction his life has taken and the brownies only help bring him clarity.

Fernando Eimbcke’s film is shot in Mexico but it has a universal theme and could take place in any city where a combination of video games, pop, pizza and hormones has the power to alter an otherwise average day. The film also raises some other issues, merely by its absence such as the issue of parenting and how it has an effect on young children. The film’s title comes from a painting of ducks in the living room and as per picture, the lives of the four characters undergoes a migration of sorts even though neither of them physically leave the apartment.

Copa America 2011 Campaign

The Mexican team that arrived at Copa America was not the goal scoring machine that won the Gold Cup but instead a younger team, with many talented prospects. A combination of a doping and off-field scandal left Mexico without more than half their senior squad so an U-23 Olympic level team took to the field in Argentina. For such an inexperienced squad, Mexico looked dangerous at times in their 2-1, 1-0 and 1-0 losses to Chile, Peru and Uruguay respectively. Still, a lot is expected from the Mexican national team no matter which age level team takes part because of the immense following of the game in Mexico and also because of the skillful talented players that are present. So it was surprizing to see Mexico finish not only bottom of Group C but also as the only team who did not earn a single point at Copa America. The three games surely provided a valuable lesson for the young players, some of whom will most likely play a part in the senior team’s qualifying campaign for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The Ways of Wine & Revolucion

The wonderful Argentine film The Ways of Wine is playing for free on mubi.com, until tomorrow Nov 21.



The film is a self-discovery journey with a touch of humor. In the manner of Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, the film shows that sometimes one may travel the world to search for meaning but the real answer that they are seeking lies closer to home. Ofcourse, the real learning comes from the journey itself.

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Also, the Mexican film Revolución is showing for free on mubi only on Saturday (Nov 20) and Sunday (Nov 21).

2011 Copa America Film & Book Festival

An updated summary of the books and films selected for the 2011 Copa America Spotlight in lieu of the recently made draw for the South American soccer tournament:

Group A: Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Bolivia
Group B: Brazil, Paraguay, Ecuador, Venezuela
Group C: Uruguay, Chile, Mexico, Peru

** Note: Costa Rica have officially replaced Japan at the Copa. However, I will still have a book and film representing Japan.

Books

Argentina: Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar
Brazil: Zero by Ignácio de Loyola Brandão
Bolivia: Aurora by Giancarla de Quiroga
Chile: The Secret Holy War of Santiago De Chile by Marco Antonio de la Parra
Colombia: The Armies by Evelio Rosero
Costa Rica: Cocori by Joaquin Guteierrez
Ecuador: The Ecuador Reader, edited by Carlos De La Torre, ***
Japan: Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Mexico: The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela
Paraguay: I, The Supreme by Augusto Roa Bastos
Peru: Conversations in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa
Uruguay: Body Snatcher by Juan Carlos Onetti, ***
Venezuela: Chronicles of a Nomad by A.A. Alvarez

*** Note (May 9, 2011): these two were new replacement entries after English translated copies of the following two original choices were not readily available.
Ecuador: Huasipungo by Jorge Icaza
Uruguay: The Shipyard by Juan Carlos Onetti

Films

Argentina: Crane World (1999, Pablo Trapero)
Bolivia: Cocalero (2007, Alejandro Landes)
Brazil: Black God White Devil (1964, Glauber Rocha)
Chile: Tony Manero (2008, Pablo Larraín)
Colombia: Crab Trap (2009, Oscar Ruiz Navia)
Costa Rica: Cold Water of the Sea (2010, Paz Fabrega)
Ecuador: Cronicas (2004, Sebastián Cordero)
Japan: Tokyo Sonata (2008, Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
Mexico: Duck Season (2004, Fernando Eimbcke)
Paraguay: Noche Adentro (2009, Pablo Lamar, 17 min)
Peru: Milk of Sorrow (2009, Claudia Llosa)
Uruguay: A Useful Life (2010, Federico Veiroj)
Venezuela: El Don (2006, José Ramón Novoa)

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[Update May 9, 2011]

Substitute / Bonus Films

I will be watching an additional number of South American films to compliment some of the above titles. This will mean at most one title from each country.

Argentina: Lion's Den (2008, Pablo Trapero)
Colombia: The Wind Journeys (2009, Ciro Guerra)
Ecuador: Ratas, ratones, rateros (1999, Sebastián Cordero)
Paraguay: I Hear Your Scream (2008, Pablo Lamar, 11 min)
Peru: Madeinusa (2006, Claudia Llosa)
Venezuela: Araya (1959, Margot Benacerraf)

Two films for Ecuador have been added courtesy of Michael C. and Pacze Moj.

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The three countries missing films are Ecuador, Paraguay and Japan. There are no shortage of Japanese titles but it is the Paraguayan entry that will most likely be the last title to be picked. The one readily available Paraguayan film is Paraguayan Hammock but I already used that for the 2010 World Cup Movie Festival so I want to pick a new Paraguayan film but currently nothing appears to be on the horizon. If I am still stuck for a title come June 2011, then I will go with Paraguayan Hammock.

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All entries should be judged prior to the soccer tournament's kick-off on July 1, 2011. So that means all books have to be read and all films have to be seen by June 30, 2011.

2010 Movie World Cup, Group A

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France

Films: U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha, In the Pit, Gigante, Sans Soleil



South Africa: U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha (2005, Mark Dornford-May)

A creative interpretation of the Spanish opera Carmen set in a South African setting. The opera is moving at times but the real gems are the African music/dance sequences which are uplifting and a joy to watch. Besides these dance sequences, my other favorite moments are some of dialogue-less scenes where the memorable music forms a perfect companion to the beautiful images.

Mexico: In the Pit (2006, Juan Carlos Rulfo)

Cars. Gridlock. Congestion. Solution? Freeways. Congestion on Freeways. Solution? Building more freeways or adding another level to existing freeways.

Mexico City. Teeming with people. And the location of one of the world's longest and highest 2nd level freeway. The film starts on a tiny portion of the freeway construction site where we meet some of the people doing the hard work and the day to day physically grueling tasks. We learn about these people's beliefs, attitudes and even myths regarding the construction and Mexican life in general.

The film's true beauty shines through in the final overhead shot of the construction site which gives a glimpse into the enormous task. The extended view of the partially completed freeway puts the whole project into context and gives a magnitude of the thousands of people who toil in the sun to get the project completed on time. And then there the millions that will benefit once the construction is done.

We meet only a few people working on a small portion of the bridge but as the mesmerizing final shot shows there are many more stories waiting to be told.

A truly amazing documentary!!

Uruguay: Gigante (2009, Adrián Biniez)

Gigante is quite a treat and presents its pleasures in quietly developed moments. The film artfully mixes dry humour, beauty with a pinch of simplicity.

Jara is a lonely security guard who falls for a cleaning girl named Julia while working night shifts observing the supermarket monitors. His gazes gradually become obsessive and he starts stalking Julia. He believes she is flirting with another co-worker and follows her to a restaurant. But instead Jara finds her on a date with another man. So he then follows that man only to rescue him from a bunch of thugs. The two return back to the resturant to have some drinks and chat. Through their conversation, Jara learns that the man found Julia through an internet dating site and that she loves heavy metal. So naturally Jara goes about learning to love heavy metal in his bid to win over Julia.

There are plenty of charming humorous moments sprinkled throughout the film. Two interesting moments come in a restaurant and involve a soccer game on tv. When Jara follows Julia to the restaurant, he sits across the restaurant while looking over to observe her. In the meantime, the man next to Jara is busy watching the soccer game and chats about the game but Jara only looks on blankly.


Later in the night when Jara returns to the restaurant with Julia's date, they make small talk. Jara is only interested in getting some info on Julia whereas her date is busy watching the game. This time around, the waiter also chips in with his view about how the ref ruined the game.


It is interesting that everyone around Jara is interested in the soccer game but he shows no emotion whatsoever. The game on tv is a local league game but even if the match was a world cup game, you be sure that Jara would not pay attention. Unless someone told him that Julia liked watching soccer. Then Jara would become the biggest soccer fan in Uruguay.

France: Sans soleil (1983, Chris Marker)

A perfect choice for the movie world cup because this film does not set up roots in one place and is a travelogue that jumps in between Tokyo and Guinea-Bissau with a brief touch down in San Francisco. The film touches 3 continents and has ties to the current world cup and three of the past 4 world cups -- the film travels to USA & Japan, host/co-host nation of the 1994 & 2002 respectively; Chris Marker is French and France hosted the 1998 World Cup; the current world cup is in Africa which gets a decent viewing time courtesy of Guinea-Bissau.

The film features a series of letters read by a woman about a man's journey from the crowded streets of Tokyo to Guinnea. A memorable moment arrives in an African market when Marker's camera captures a woman's smile and beauty.

Ofcourse, the woman knows a pair of eyes (and a lens) are on her, so we see her look away yet she is still aware of the presence fixated on her face.

There are many other images which stay long in the memory.

Standings and Points (Maximum out of 9)

In the Pit: 8
Gigante: 8
Sans Soleil: 7
U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha: 6

It was a very tough decision deciding who got top spot as there is very little to seperate In the Pit from Gigante. My choice was made more difficult by the fact that I saw both films almost 6 months apart -- I saw In the Pit back in December and recently saw Gigante in May. In the end, I have to give a narrow nod to the Mexican documentary.

Soccer Group Prediction

I would not be surprized if like the film results both Mexico and Uruguay advance to the second round. On paper, Uruguay are the most capable team in changing their tactical formations with Mexico not too far behind in adapting to different styles. As is often repeated, no host team has failed to advance from its group. South Africa is not a very strong tactical team and a noisy home crowd may not be enough to power them through to the next phase. On the other hand, if South Africa can get an early goal, then there is a chance their spirits might be lifted by the home crowd. Also, South Africa's opener against Mexico presents them with a good chance of nabbing a win or atleast a draw.

As for France, I have no hope. France have been mostly inept, dull and uninspired under Raymond Domenech. Domenech is not entirely at fault though because he did inherit a pretty weak team after Euro 2004 but he has done nothing to improve the French game. The ultimate blame for France's failure should not rest on the players or Domenech but should be put on the French Federation's shoulders. They had a chance to put things right after a disastrous Euro 2008 but they did nothing. The French Federation know the team will fail which is why they were quick to name Laurent Blanc as Domenech's replacement well before the World Cup. The Federation did this to take away some of the anger that will be directed towards them once France stumbles and fails. The biggest surprize for me will be if France advances from this group. And I will be even more surprized if France manages to score more than 1 goal in any of the three group games.

For now, I am going to go with Uruguay and Mexico to finish 1st and 2nd in the group.

Memory + Image

Back in 2005, I came across an intriguing Mexican film called Sangre by Amat Escalante. Even though there were plenty of wonderful moments and memorable images in the film, I had mixed overall feelings because I found a few segments frustrating. Still, I could never forget the images I saw in Sangre and one of my favourite sequences in the film takes place when the main character Diego finds his small car against a giant mound of garbage. As the camera draws back, the full scale of the mountain of garbage is made apparent. But Diego is not concerned with the mountain of garbage to his left. Instead his eyes are further ahead because he needs to search for something in another mountain of garbage. The difficulty of his task is made apparent while one can't help but think of the sheer wastage that humans are leaving behind, as the garbage dump is only one of millions that exist throughout the planet.

When I had seen Sangre I had not seen anything by Carlos Reygadas. Now having seen all of the three features Reygadas has directed, I have a better appreciation of what Escalante attempted with Sangre. Escalante was an assistant director on Reygadas' Battle in Heaven and Reygadas was a producer on Sangre. As a result, there are plenty of similarities between Sangre & Battle in Heaven, like the usage of unprofessional actors to depict the everyday mundane lives of ordinary characters and awkward sex scenes featuring people with non-model like bodies, aspects which one rarely finds in films. In fact, Sangre makes for a worthy double bill along with Battle in Heaven because the two films compliment each other so well.

I still have not seen Escalante's second feature Los bastardos but it is high on my list of films to watch. And both Escalante & Reygadas have short features in Revolución, a film that recently showed at the Berlin Film Festival. The other directors who contributed segments in Revolución are Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, Rodrigo García, Mariana Chenillo, Fernando Eimbcke, Gerardo Naranjo, Rodrigo Plá and Patricia Riggen. Definitely, Revolución is one film to look out for.

Two brothers and two fateful penalty shots

Rudo y Cursi (2009, Mexico/USA, Carlos Cuarón)

Ah. The beautiful game. It unites and can equally divide.

Two brothers, one a goal keeper and the other a striker. Mortal enemies on the field because of their opposing roles. One’s happiness depends on the other’s misery -- if a striker scores, then he is the hero yet if the goalkeeper blocks the shot, then the goalie comes out on top. An agent, Batuta (Guillermo Francella), is impressed with both brothers but he can only pick one, so he leaves it up to the brothers to decide who gets selected. Beto (Diego Luna), the goalkeeper, opts for a penalty shot to decide their fates.

As the two brothers run towards the goal, Beto indicates to Tato (Gael García Bernal) where he should shoot the ball.

“Shoot to the right”

“Let me block it. Shoot to the right.”

“Okay.”

Tato steps up and sends the ball perfectly to his right while his brother dives the other way. Batuta is impressed and asks Tato to meet him the next day. But Beto is upset.

“I said aim right! Why’d you shoot the other way?”

“I aimed right!”

“I meant the other right!”

“What other right?”

“My right, asshole!”

“You should have said to aim that way!”

The rivalry that was already present between the brothers intensifies. Tato takes a step towards healing that rivalry. After Tato makes it big, he forces Batuta to give his brother a chance. Sure enough, Beto is given his chance and manages to make his mark. However, the two brothers are plagued with problems off the field -- Tato throws his riches away on a fine looking gold digger named Maya while Beto gambles everything away.

Oddly, the brothers handle their off-field problems differently. While Beto’s gambling debt puts his life in danger, he still manages to shine on the field, keeping clean-sheet after clean-sheet. On the other hand, Tato’s goals dry up completely and he reaches breaking point when he learns that Maya is cheating on him.

Tato is on the verge of being sent to the second division and has one more game to salvage his career, while Beto is given one more chance to pay off his debts. Both brother’s get their chance to turn their lives around in the same game when they square off against each other.

It is clear how fate will decide the outcome.

A penalty shot. If a penalty shot kick-started their soccer careers, then it is appropriate that the two brothers face off again from 12 yards to decide the outcome of the rest of their lives.

Rudo y Cursi may feel like a Hollywood film in its treatment but the film redeems itself in the penalty shot near the end where the ironic fates of soccer and life in general are respected. The ending can only be written by someone who understands that, in soccer, games can end just as they start.

Note: The calm and soothing narration provided by the character of Batuta evoke the sentiments of Eduardo Galeano from Soccer in Sun and Shadow where Galeano poetically conveyed the beauty of the game.

CIFF 2009 Diary, Days 6-8

Day 6: Wednesday, Sept 30

The 10 film Maverick competition kicked off on September 30 with 4 screenings, followed by a further 4 on Thursday and the final two on Friday night.

Schedule for the 10 Maverick films:

Wednesday -- Juntos, Everyone Else, Unmade Beds and Karaoke.
Thursday -- Be Good, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, Wrong Rosary and Fish Eyes.
Friday -- My Suicide and Be Calm and Count to Seven.

I had seen four stellar films prior to the festival (Be Calm and Count to Seven, Everyone Else, Fish Eyes and Karaoke) and I was looking forward to seeing a few more.

Juntos (2009, Canada/Mexico, Nicolás Pereda)

Before the screening, Nicolás Pereda mentioned that he felt strange talking about Juntos as a movie because originally it was intended to be an art gallery project. He then asked the audience to watch the film with an open mind.

It is easy to see why this work could have been an art gallery project. One can imagine seeing the footage beamed on walls as audiences walk by a particular moment and then return later on to see what the three characters are up to. The film contains long static takes and gives a glimpse into the relationship between three people living in an apartment -- Gabino, his girlfriend Luisa and his friend Paco. Gabino finds himself in the middle of this awkward dynamic as Luisa's dislike at Paco's presence means that Gabino's relationship with Luisa is put under stress. The stress is conveyed early on and reaches breaking point in a stellar 10 minute long dialogue less scene with Gabino and Luisa sitting quietly at the kitchen table. With each passing second in this scene, one can feel the tension rise between the two and had Gabino dared to speak a word, then the relationship would surely have been over then and there.

The title Juntos refers to Gabino's dog that goes missing at the film's start. The dog's disappearance also signals the degradation of the relationship Gabino has with Luisa and Paco, although Gabino's easy going manner with Paco suggests that he will eventually forgive any of Paco's mistakes (a beautiful dialogue exchange between the two when Gabino is working on the sink pipes is another strong highlight of the film). There is also a scene that will inspire walkouts or discontent from the audience. In this particular scene, the camera does not shy away from watching Gabino take a bath in the nude. The scene starts off with Gabino's member slightly covered but slowly, everything is out in the open. This long sequence, which features Gabino lathering himself with soap, brought laughter from some of the women in the crowd and caused one man to loudly blame another woman for bringing him to see this movie. The man walked out a few minutes after the scene was over. But the scene does bring up the question that if it was a woman shown bathing instead of a man, would there have been any walkouts or even any laughter?

There are also some precious moments of humour derived from watching the characters and their crumbling household appliances. The film certainly requires an investment from the audience and does reward those who are patient enough.

note: Robert Koehler's review is worth reading.

Karaoke

After Juntos I headed down to the Plaza to meet up with Chris Chong Chan Fui and introduce his film. As it turned out, Karaoke proved to a frustrating challenge for quite a few of the audience members, including some good friends.

Day 7: Thursday, Oct 1

Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2009, USA, Damien Chazelle)

This black and white free flowing jazzy film is a breath of fresh air and has shades of John Cassavetes. The story is simple enough -- Boy Meets Girl, Boy dumps Girl, Boy meets another Girl and eventually Boy realizes he made a mistake. But the film has such a beautiful free style to it, like a jazz piece, that one can forget about the story and enjoy the images that are musically conveyed on the screen. There are also a few musical numbers, especially the cute restaurant tap dance sequence, that are integrated nicely in the film's framework.

Note: originally I had intended on seeing Be Good but then I changed my mind because I figured that I might have better chance of catching Be Good on DVD than Damien Chazelle's film. As good as Guy and Madeline.. is, I do wonder what future the film might have outside of the film festival circuit.

Wrong Rosary (2009, Turkey, Mahmut Fazil Coskun)

There is a famous Indian song from the film Padosan: "Mere samne wali khidki mein ek chand ka tukda rahta hai..". which roughly translates to "a beautiful girl lives next door" (I think an exact translation for this song would lessen the impact). The words for that song perfectly describe the story in Wrong Rosary as Musa, a muezzin, is smitten by his neighbour Clara. While the two belong to different religions, it is not religion that forms a barrier in their relationship but instead Musa's shyness gets in the way. Gradually, as he takes takes baby steps to edge towards Clara, we see his confidence grow. And just when things look like heading towards a happy sunset over the Bosphorus, a heart breaking conflict is thrown in the mix, ensuring some tears will take place.

Overall, Wrong Rosary is a wonderful crowd pleasing film. At times, the two characters of Musa and Clara look straight out of a Chaplin movie as both are outcasts in the beautiful city of Istanbul.

Note: Wrong Rosary continues the trend of fine Turkish films I have seen this year. And like most of those Turkish films, Wrong Rosary is expertly shot and allows one to completely soak in the atmosphere. The previous Turkish films that I saw this year will be outlined in a “Spotlight on Turkey” post shortly.

Day 8: Friday, Oct 2

Zero films seen!!

Despite my best intention of seeing a film on friday, a bizarre sequence of events (rain + car troubles) ensured that I once again failed to see a film on each of the 10 festival days.

Still, the rest was welcome as I was able to take in a record 7 films on saturday.

Mexican Cinema

Alfonso Cuarón director: Remember what Claude Chabrol said: ‘There is no wave, there is only the ocean.’ I am not purely interested in ‘Mexican cinema’, I am interested in cinema. And when you start using these words like ‘wave’, it’s a way of creating an identity for certain films, but it also becomes an aspect of marketing. You know, the common identity of the films people are describing as part of this ‘Mexican wave’ is that they are cinema. And that is the reason these films are seen everywhere and why they have been embraced everywhere. But people are also disregarding Mexican film-makers who have been making films for the last thirty years - people like Arturo Ripstein. You have to remember that there have been lots of Mexican film directors, but that doesn’t make a ‘wave’ - it’s not as if we have all shared a particular aesthetic. Quote 1

When I stumbled across three Mexican films, Amores Perros, Y tu mamá también and The Devil’s Backbone, in quick succession sometime in 2001, I never considered the films as part of a “New Wave of Mexican Cinema”. The trio were completely different films that just happened to come out of Mexico. But I can imagine that it was a convenient tag to help classify things. For example, recently after three films from Romania (The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, 12:08 East of Bucharest & 4 Months 3 Weeks 2 Days) made a splash on the film festival circuit in successive years, the media immediately called it the “New Romanian wave”. Three films is still too early to label a movement, plus there is no reason to believe the Romanian film directors were collaborating together for a conscious movement. Even though Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro González Iñárritu are friends who have either helped edit or given helpful suggestions to each other's works, they are still three independent directors who are making high quality cinema yet they were/are lumped together under one label.

Hugo Rodriguez director: Let’s not forget that Mexico has a long film-making tradition, which started almost at the same time as the international film industry was born. We have films that date back to the early 1900s, and the historical relationship with Hollywood has meant that our technicians are highly trained. Quote 2

Thankfully old Mexican films are being made available in North America via new DVD releases and it will certainly help in getting a feel for Mexico’s rich cinematic history.

But taking a look from the early days of Mexican cinema...

1) The 1930's plus the Revolution period

Fernando de Fuentes began his career as a cinema manager, and would later use his experience in this regard to challenge the existing exhibition monopoly of the 1940s. He became arguably the most important figure in the Mexican cinema of the 1930s because his trilogy of films about the Revolution: El prisionere trece (1933), El compadre Mendoza (1933) and Vamonos con Pancho Villa (1934). Quote 3

I have only seen El compadre Mendoza of Fernando de Fuentes’s works and it is an engaging film that beautifully integrates a friendship tale with the complicated dynamics of a revolution. In a way, the talk of revolution is deeply associated with the image of Mexico. Even a film like Ocean’s Thirteen couldn’t resist stoking the fire of revolution in a Mexican setting. In a humorous segment of Ocean’s Thirteen, the ‘twins’ are sent to a Mexican dice making plant but they end up stirring things up over Tequila and talk of Zapata resulting in the workers shutting the plant down.

2) The Golden Age of Mexican Cinema or ‘El Cine de Oro’ -- 1940’s through to 60’s

Luis Buñuel’s Mexican films fall within this time period as well.

Emerging at the tail end of ‘Cine de Oro’ period, the director [Buñuel] arguably provides a lineage with the subsequent ‘Grupo Nuevo Cine’, and - through his unsentimental consideration of themes of poverty and social injustice, allied with his formal experimentation and ability to work creatively with limited resources -- to the prominent Mexican directors who would emerge on the cusp of the twenty-first century. Quote 4

3) The Re-emergence plus ties with Hollywood

Mexican cinema seems to have suffered in the late 1970’s and early 80’s. But near the end of the 80’s and start of the 1990's, Mexican cinema regained its footing with renewed vigor.

After years of drought, the early 1990s witnessed the feature-film debuts of several directors who would thereafter become international names. A new generation was on the brink of making itself heard, and these directors were conscious that something of a break from the past would be necessary if they were to assert their own identities. Quote 5

Some of the more famous directors whose names are associated with the re-emergence in the early 1990’s are Carlos Carrera, Alfonso Cuarón and Alfonso Arau.

Alfonso Arau’s Like Water for Chocolate (Como agua para chocolate) made international headlines and also gave Mexican culture plenty of attention as well considering the story focuses on the richness of Mexican food. In fact, Like Water for Chocolate was probably the first Mexican film I ever saw in my life. I had enjoyed reading the sensual novel and was drawn to the film to see how much of the passion could be recreated. After gaining success on the home front, Arau next ventured to Hollywood for A Walk in the Clouds.

The geographical closeness to America certainly enabled a lot of movement between Mexican cinema and Hollywood for some directors. Even though Alfonso Cuarón made his cinematic start with the Mexican film Love in the Time of Hysteria, he moved across the border to direct The Little Princess and Great Expectations. I first caught up with Cuarón's work with the visually imaginative Great Expectations, a film that I lined up to see on opening day back in January 1998. The film was a bit of a let down but the soundtrack was mesmerizing and the visuals completely alluring.

Guillermo del Toro has also moved successfully back and worth between Mexico and USA. It appears that after making a commercial Hollywood film, he returns back to Mexico to create a powerful Spanish language film. After making his feature film debut with Cronos in 1993 he ventured to Hollywood with Mimic before returning for The Devil’s Backbone followed by enjoyable comic book ventures in Blade 2 and Hellboy before his award winning Pan’s Labyrinth. And this year, del Toro was behind the second installment of Hellboy II: The Golden Army

And then there is the case of Robert Rodriguez. Born in the U.S, he traveled to Mexico to shoot his now famous El Mariachi on a shoe-string budget before returning to Hollywood for a sequel of sorts with the stunning Desperado. And the Antonio Banderas guitar swinging gun fighting film also introduced North American audiences to the seductive Salma Hayek. Rodriguez has been prominent in Hollywood since 1995 but he did pay a brief ode to Mexico in 2003 with the final chapter in his Mariachi trilogy Once Upon a Time in Mexico, a film with some charm but still in need for more chopping.

The Mexican tie with Hollywood certainly got more attention in 2007 when the films Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón), Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro ) and Babel (Alejandro González Iñárritu) were earning spots in critics year end best film lists.

4) 2000 onwards: New faces and new visions

Carlos Reygadas arrived on the international film festival circuit with his visually stunning Japon in 2002. Reygadas has certainly added a different flavour to the vision of Mexico from that presented by Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro González Iñárritu. Reygadas has shown a different side of Mexico in his films, like featuring the peaceful countryside in Japon, the rich Mexican suburbs in Battle in Heaven or a German Mennonite community in Silent Light. Carlos also has had a prominent influence on Amat Escalante and helped produce Escalante’s debut film Sangre in 2005. I came across Sangre at the London Film Festival back in 2005 and unfortunately I happened to see the film at the wrong time in my cinematic journey. While I loved some sequences of Sangre (some scenes that have still stayed with me, like the shot of the garbage landfill), I was not that impressed with the film. Now, after having seen Reygadas’ Battle in Heaven I can fully appreciate Sangre as both films form a worthy double bill and present a fresh look into Mexican life from the eyes of characters who would hardly grace the camera of most film productions.

While talking about Iñárritu’s three features, one can’t ignore the writing talents of Guillermo Arriaga. It is unfortunate to read that Iñárritu and Arriaga won’t collaborate on further films but Arriaga’s writing style manages to beautifully capture the essence of Mexican life. I have enjoyed reading his two novels A Sweet Smell of Death and The Night Buffalo while Arriaga’s moving script for The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada captures the tender complications of moving across the US border to start a new life.

Some other interesting Mexican films that I have seen in the last two years such as Used Parts (Aarón Fernández Lesur), Drama/Mex (Gerardo Naranjo) and Bad Habits (Simón Bross) suggest that there is indeed a positive future for Mexican films, beyond the works of the well known directors.

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Films chosen as part of Spotlight

I wanted to pick a film from each major time period of Mexico’s cinematic journey and in that regard I came across the following five titles:

The Woman of the Port (1934, Arcady Boytler/Raphael J. Sevilla): 7.5/10
Aventurera (1950, Alberto Gout): 7/10
A Woman Without love (1952, Luis Buñuel): 8/10
The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales (1960, Rogelio A. González): 9/10
No One Writes to the Colonel (1999, Arturo Ripstein): 6/10

Instead of picking the well known Mexican films by Buñuel, I opted for A Woman Without Love. While the love affair story may not be that ground breaking but Buñuel’s direction ensures that the film does not become too melodramatic and instead conveys a compassionate tale of sacrifices that true love has to endure.

Both the leading women in The Woman of the Port and Aventurera find themselves forced into prostitution due to circumstances. In The Woman of the Port, Rosia turns to the trade after her cheating lover kills her father. But the film saves a nasty twist in the end, something that sheds an even darker light on an already tragic tale. In Aventurera, Elena is forced into prostitution after her dreams of a better life in the big city are shattered by a trusted family friend. But Elena discovers her inner strength and is able to extract revenge, albeit by playing an emotional game of chess.

The most disappointing film turned out to be Arturo Ripstein’s No One Writes to the Colonel, a film based on Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel. On the flip-side, the true gem of the lot turned out to be The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales, a wicked dark comedy with a delicious twist in the end. The film features plenty of imaginative camera angles, combined with a very witty story that does not shy from dragging its characters through the mud.

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Reference for all quotes used: The Faber book of Mexican cinema by Jason Wood.

Carlos Reygadas Films

Snapshots of Three Films by Mexican director Carlos Reygadas

Japón

"Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus

Japón follows the main character’s quest to end his life. A painter heads to the Mexican landscape to put an end to his suffering. But along the way, he finds meaning to his life. Simple things can change a person’s view of the world and sometimes the boundless beauty of nature can go a long way towards curing a tormented soul. Unfortunately, the ironic nature of life does surface in the film. When the painter has no reason to live, he cannot kill himself. But when he finally finds hope and reason in life, that reason is taken away in a swift instance. Although after making such a long journey, we can be sure that he will continue to live after the film ends because he has found an inner desire to continue, an inner desire not motivated by external triggers.

Battle in Heaven

Marcos leads a simple life filled with routines. Some of these routines revolve around him and his wife selling clocks and some food by an underground walkway. Tick tock. But in order to improve their daily lives, the two of them kidnap a child for ransom. However, something goes wrong and the child dies. Tick tock.

Marcos’s second job is as a driver and he is assigned to drive around a general’s young daughter Ana. Despite being rich, Ana derives pleasure by working in an upscale brothel. She sends one of her colleagues to service Marcos. But Marcos only wants Ana and fantasizes about her. Ana makes it clear that she wants nothing to do with Marcos sexually.

Tick tock. Confession. Sin. Repentance. Inner Struggle.

Silent Light

A quiet German Mennonite community in Mexico. A perfect family. Well, almost perfect. Johan, the father and husband, is having an affair with Marianne that is tearing him apart. Everyone knows about it. Even the mechanic to whom Johan takes his car cautions him about Marianne. Johan tried to leave Marianne but cannot help going back. Johan even goes to his father for advice. Johan’s wife Esther believed that Johan had finally left Marianne but when she learns that he has started visiting Marianne again, she cannot take it anymore.

Johan has to make a decision but then nature helps him out.

Lasting Images:

The lasting images from Japón revolve around the 360 degree camera sequence at the film’s end. The camera freely spins around the surroundings allowing only a tiny fraction of the events to come into view before finally focusing on the tragedy in front of us. Even if the film ends in tragedy, it arrives at that fateful realization by following a beautiful path that evaporates any meaning of loss.

There is also a 360 degree camera sequence in Battle in Heaven as well but it does not have the poetic or emotional impact as the one from Japón. However, one memorable take arrives immediately following the 360 degree camera sequence in Reygadas’s second feature. Prior to the sequence, Ana is on top of Marcos, thrusting back and forth. The camera starts off in Ana’s dreadlocked hair but gradually moves sideways, looking at the sexual act from outside the window. Just before the camera starts moving to the left, Ana looks towards the camera (note: I am not sure if that is a mistake or an intended gesture on Reygadas’s behalf? Ana face the audience!). The camera then leaves the room and slowly moves around the neighbouring buildings before returning back to the room where Ana has finished her bouncy gyrations. As the camera moves towards them, it looks at the naked bodies of Marcos and Ana first from above, then from the floor showing their feet before slowly moving upwards towards the ceiling. There is something picturesque about this long take, watching the big round body of Marcos lying next to tiny Ana. Marcos is taking up most of the bed space and holding hands tenderly with Ana. The background music starts just as the camera makes its movement towards the ceiling and the music has echoes of a triumphant victory, a final salute of sorts. Has Marcos achieved greatness by sleeping with the beautiful Ana? Is the sequence real or another of Marcos’ fantasies? The 360 degree camera spin makes me think that this sexual act is real. And that image of Marcos looking at the ceiling with Ana sprawled on the bed besides him with closed eyes is just vintage stuff.

The best cinematic sequences in Silent Light open and close the film. The film starts off in darkness, looking at the boundless starry night sky. Slowly, night gives way to dawn and the sun rays paint the Mexican landscape with a radiant beauty. The film ends with this sequence in reverse, where the sun sets to usher in darkness.

Awkward but real:

Both Japón & Battle of Heaven contain sex scenes which will not feature in any American or European film because of the physical attributes of the mating couple. In Japón, the painter engages in sex with a much older woman. He proposes his intentions to her and then what follows is quite a realistic and a very un-sexual sexual scene – there is no enticement but a mechanical nature to the whole act.

The realistic sex scene in Battle of Heaven features Marcos thrusting his wife from behind. Now, both Marcos and his wife are big people and one never sees a sexual act between large people on cinema.

However, we are not shown any nudity during the sex scene between Johan and Marianne in Silent Light. Since the couple constitutes the normal cinematic portrayal of sexual acts, Reygadas is not interested in showing their naked flesh. Although the sex scene between Ana and Marcos in Battle in Heaven is shown in stark detail as well, a bit too much detail. But then again, the fornication between the two does not constitute a cinematic norm either.

Symmetry:

Even though Battle in Heaven starts and ends with a similar sequence of Ana giving oral pleasure to Marcos, there is a subtle difference in between the opening and closing sequences. Marcos is not wearing his glasses in the final sequence which hints that the sequence is not taking place within the realms of the film’s realistic boundaries and might actually be happening in heaven. Maybe there is peace in heaven after all for Marcos!

Silent Light opens with a transition from night to day, and ends in reverse order, light to dark. Fade to Black indeed.

Fascinating titles:

Why should a Mexican film shot entirely in the Mexican countryside be called Japón? A clue is provided halfway through the film when the painter shows his collection of paintings to the older woman. Also, his need to commit suicide might be a nod towards the ritualistic Japanese suicide hara-kiri.

Battle in Heaven: Don’t most cultures mention that there will be peace in heaven? Hmm. Apparently, they have not met Marcos.

Silent Light: At the quantum level, a light particle is anything but silent. But we do not analyze elementary particles consciously everytime we admire beauty. And the film shows the beauty of light, which can quietly envelop a surrounding or quietly remove the ability to see things. Let there be light! Let there be darkness!

Mexico standing in for the world:

All three Carlos Reygadas films are firmly rooted in Mexico as they feature characters who live and breathe within Mexico. Yet, the character’s suffering is universal.

Japón -- the painter is tired of the chaotic city life and seeks peace.
Battle in Heaven -- Marcos is torn by guilt and lust.
Silent Light -- Johan longs for another woman and realizes that he has never truly loved his wife. But he has to suffer because he cannot just pick up and leave.

Universal themes distilled via Mexican landscapes.

I certainly cannot wait to see what else Reygadas serves up in the future.

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Ratings out of 10:

Silent Light: 10

Battle in Heaven: 8.5

Japón: 8

Friendship & Human nature in Arriaga's world

The Films:

Like most people, I first heard of Guillermo Arriaga after the film Amores Perros came out in 2001. Even though most of my memories about the film are around the powerful images of the angry dogs, the horrific car crash and the breakdown of the beautiful model, I admired the well written story by Arriaga. Normally, when a film does well the director gets all the credit. But every so often, a film's story and screenplay leave such a resonating mark that the film's writer also ends up getting attention. And that is the case with Arriaga who has shared the limelight with his collaborations with director Alejandro González Iñárritu. Their partnership has become legendary as the two went onto more acclaim with 21 Grams and Babel. Which is why it is unfortunate to hear that the two will not be working together again and Babel was their last collaboration.

After the strong images of Amores Perros, my memories about the duo's next film 21 Grams centered on the story itself. I do remember the intimate motel scenes quite a bit but I remember the characters misery more. Also, the film's title referring to the apparent weight of the human soul was also something that stayed with me. For me, Babel was the weakest film out of the three works. Although there was plenty to enjoy in the film, the film didn't feel as smooth as the previous two works.

But Arriaga also worked on other films besides the three with Iñárritu. 2005's The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada was one such movie where Arriaga's script was directed by Tommy Lee Jones. I only recently saw this movie and absolutely feel in love with the tender story of friendship and dreams. The friendship shown in the movie is about principles and honor while the characters attempt to dream of a better life (especially Melquiades) to help cope with their daily struggles. Tommy Lee Jones has perfectly captured all the sensibilities that Arriaga's story was meant to convey and directs a balanced film. I could not help think about No Country for Old Men while watching The Three Burials... The stories of both films are quite different but the presence of Tommy Lee Jones and the fact that both movies filmed were filmed in Texas with a touch of Mexican elements made me think of No Country... It would be unfair to compare the two movies but if I had to, I much prefer the compassionate poetry of The Three Burials.. over the precise polished coldness of the Coen Brothers work.

The Novel:

In late 2005, while browsing through a bookstore in London, I came across a book by Arriaga: The Sweet Smell of Death. At that point, I had no idea that Arriaga wrote novels. The book's cover confirmed that the novel was indeed by the screenwriter of Amores Perros and 21 Grams. I bought the book immediately because my past experience in traveling through London has shown that plenty of books available in England were not to be found in North America. This was confirmed after I returned home where none of the three books by Arriaga were available in North America yet in late 2005.

Even though The Sweet Smell of Death is a quick read at 160 pages, it is a well written story that stays long after one has finished it. The core of the novel is around a murder that takes place in a small Mexican town. The novel does not attempt to solve the murder but instead shows how this one action polarizes events in the town. Different people deal with death in their own manner. Some are introspective and attempt to understand the meaning of a murder while others thirst for blood. The book shows events regarding the latter and depicts how people's quest for revenge blinds out reason and logic. And given how in this day and age where revenge is the driving force between international politics, the book's simple story struck a powerful chord.

I recently finished reading another of Arriaga's novels -- The Night Buffalo. The book is slightly longer than The Sweet Smell of Death at 228 pages and deals with death in a different manner. While The Sweet Smell.. showed the outward reactions that occurred after a murder took place, The Night Buffalo is more concerned with the inward behaviour of its character. And it is this flawed inward behavior by an individual that triggers the internal breakdown in other people around him, further resulting in a chain of external reactions. While the books deals with suicide and its after effects, it is also concerned with the values of friendship and human relationships. Even though The Night Buffalo is a quick read, it leaves plenty think about. While reading the novel, I could not help think of William Friedkin's powerful film Bug which also took place mostly in a motel like The Night Buffalo and also shares a thread dealing with paranoia. Plus The Night Buffalo invites the reader to understand the main character on their own terms. The novel's narrator Manuel leads us through the story in a matter of fact manner but we can't agree with all his decisions and actions. So while following Manuel commit strange acts, we can't help think that we are being taken for a ride or maybe there is something wrong with Manuel, something that he is not even aware of himself.

If one had to try to examine a common theme in Arriaga's works, friendship would be something that stands out along with his attempts to understand the complex human psyche. His two novels are rich works that are rendered in a simple easy to follow manner that make it accessible to everyone.

The Interview:

I knew of The Night Buffalo before I came across this excellent and insightful interview with Arriaga at the Evening Post. The interview between Michael Guillen and Arriaga is so alive and buzzing with such energy that I was inspired to read my second Arriaga novel. In the end, I am glad I read The Night Buffalo, a work that I have not been able to stop thinking about long after I finished reading it.

Also, Michael's interview does a great job in looking beyond the theme of the novel and is able to capture the essence behind Arriaga's works.

Alejandro Jodorowsky

Surrealist images of Alejandro Jodorowsky

In the giant cinematic world, it is easy to miss works by a certain director if one starts their film viewing at a later stage. If one started their film viewing from the 60's through to the 70's, then chances are they could have caught onto the new cinematic trends that were emerging then. But if someone (like myself) started their journey in the 90's, then one is always playing catch-up. Because in that case one has to not only keep pace with the existing cinema around the world but has to dip back into the past to see how the current cinema evolved. So it is not a surprize that I had completely missed the works of Alejandro Jodorowsky, the Chilean film-maker credited with kick-starting midnight cinema with his 1970 work, El Topo. I have viewed plenty of mid-night screenings over the last few years but I had remarkably never heard of Jodorowsky until recently, when his works were re-issued on DVD.

I decided to start my film journey before El Topo hoping to ease into Jodorowsky's style but as it turns out, my first choice of his 1968 film Fando and Lis was not an easy introduction. The opening images of Fando and Lis point to the surrealist film that awaits.

A woman singing in a junk yard. A piano literally on fire.


But these images are quite normal compared to what else unfolds in the film. The story centers around the two lead characters and their travels across a desolate and shattered land to search for the magical city of Tar. Lis is confined to a wheelchair, so Fando decides to carry her as they navigate the tricky mountainous paths to find the city which will cure all their problems. The two come across plenty of strange characters and situations but the characters around Fando and Lis are not all real. Flash backs of Fando's childhood are shown and they indicate that his nightmares are instead playing out in front of his eyes, as opposed to any real physical threat. Still, the surreal images continue as Fando tries to quieten his inner demons and desires, even by torturing the helpless Lis. Jodorowsky is not afraid to go all out with his nightmarish imagery and does not soften the plight of the two characters at all.

Desert: Bandits and Rogues:

The mountains in Fando and Lis give way to the beautiful deserts of Mexico in El Topo, a Western outlaw film not afraid to depict blood and the evil nature of men. The title character refers to a bandit who rides the desert with his 7 year old son, dispatching outlaws and bringing justice to the people.


On one such journey, El Topo rescues a few priests and finds a new lover. He leaves his son with the priests while he goes out to destroy all the 4 supreme masters in the desert to gain ultimate power. But El Topo does not play fair and defeats the masters with deceit.

So it is not a surprize to find that El Topo gets double-crossed and left for dead.

At this point, one can say the film's second act starts with a newer and wiser El Topo emerging. He has been looked after by the cave people, men and women who hide beneath the earth living far from the corrupt and dangerous city above ground. But El Topo wants to return the people back to civilization. However, his new found values of peace come under severe challenge in a land where crime and corruption reign.

The film is not just a spaghetti western but is packed with religions undertones -- messages of Buddhism and Christianity are both mixed in varying degrees througout the film. And there are plenty of gory or offensive scenes in the film which allude to the film's popularity as a cult viewing. There are plenty of fascinating images scattered througout the film such as the surroundings of the 4 masters. The images of dead sheep lying as El Topo takes on the master is just one example.



Ratings:
Fando and Lis (1968): 6.5/10
El Topo (1970): 7.5/10