Vancouver International Film Festival 2008

Mexico

The Desert Within

Review by Cameron Maitland

The genre of tragedy rarely gets a foothold in modern American film yet, if festivals are any indication, it continues to thrive around the world. Rodrigo Pla's The Desert Within may seem like the next in line of South American tragedies but it has a few unique things to say.

The film follows a father, Elias, who, faced with religious persecution during the Mexican Revolution, attempts to get his unborn son baptized. A series of tragedies sparked on by selfish decisions leaves Elias castaway from his village into the desert with his children attempting to redeem himself in the eyes of God waiting for a sign. He employs his children in building a church to please God and defy the revolutionaries. As the tragedy continues and God’s signs are questioned it becomes clear that Elias' intentions may not be so holy.

The film is shocking and heart-wrenching in its unflinching portrayal of tragedy and hardship and almost teeters on the edge of melodrama. Luckily the solid pacing, effortless acting and great use of the church set pave over many of the bumps in the story. Pla also takes advantage of rudimentary animation that adds a lot of uniqueness and heart to the otherwise cold tragedy.

Where many South American tragedies dealing with the hardships of revolution turn to subtly deal with religion's place, this film turns directly to it, for good or ill. Its questioning of motivations and practice in religion are unique enough to make the film, and the tragedy contained within, haunting and unique.

The Desert Within
Rodrigo Pla | Mexico | 2008 | 112min

Mexico

Where Are Their Stories?

Review by Matthew Tsang

Writer/Director Nicolas Pereda's debut film Where are Their Stories? (Donde Estan Sus Historias?) follows a poor young farmer, Vincente, who lives and works on his grandmother's farm. He soon begins a journey through Mexico in search of a way to prevent the sale of his grandmother's land at the hands of his selfish uncle. Along his travels, he stops by a wealthy family's home, where we discover his mother is working as a maid. Their extremely disconnected and strained relationship forms the bulk of the plot in this turtle-paced, pretentious film.

Pereda takes an incredibly minimalist approach which forces the audience to feel the same distanced relationship to the film as Vincente feels with his mother. However, this approach results in too many over-extended travel shots, too little dialogue, and too much reliance on the audience to enjoy feeling miserable for the characters.

By dragging us along on the shaky handheld camera travelling shots where nothing is shown but the backs of the characters walking away, the film succeeds all too well in making us feel like we're involuntarily invading the lives of the characters. And, at the end of it all, we all feel that we've seen so much and understood so little that we should have left a while ago.

Where Are the Stories?
Nicolas Pereda | Mexico/Canada | 2007 | 73min

Fri. Sept. 26 | 9:30pm | Empire Granville Theatre 6
Sat. Oct. 4 | 11:00am | Vancity Theatre

Mexico

All Inclusive

Review by gloria wong.

Gonzalo has more than his share of problems. His wife Valentina is angry at his workload. His oldest daughter has just gotten a divorce from her husband and refuses to talk about it. His teenage son has never had a girlfriend. His younger daughter is expressing her post-adolescent rebellion with lots of attitude, too much eyeliner and overly bleached and dyed hair. And he’s just been told that he’ll soon be dead, and he has no idea how to tell his family. So, he decides, now is his moment for a family vacation at one of those incredibly luxurious all-inclusive resorts on the Mayan Riviera that, apparently, Mexicans actually go to (in addition to the throngs of obnoxious international tourists). For extra flavour, they happen to be there in the middle of hurricane season.

All Inclusive doesn’t have many flaws. It is a beautifully-shot, wonderfully-acted, satisfying family comedy. Entertainment is embedded in its DNA. What surprises is the effectiveness of the more dramatic elements of the story, how successfully it manages to use formulas we know and begrudgingly love.

All Inclusive
Rodrigo Ortuzar Lynch | 2008 | Mexico | 93min