THE BASTARDS
(Los bastardos)
(Mexico/2008/Color/90 mins.)
Director: Amat Escalante
Writers: Amat Escalante, Martín Escalante
Stars: Jesus Moises Rodriguez, Rubén Sosa and Nina Zavarin
Brief summary: Two Mexican immigrants do odd jobs for random sleazy Americans, and usually hang around with their fellow Mexicans at a drop-off spot waiting for something new to pop up. It can be anything from construction-working and strawberry-picking to muscle-for-hire goons, just as long as there's enough money in it for them. Meanwhile, an American mother has trouble communicating with her lackadaisical teenage son, and fails to draw his attention in every way. The boy doesn't treat her very well, and leaves the house without even saying goodbye. On that same evening, the four lives will be forever changed, which is the story that this movie tells.
The film is beautifully shot, and also has a fantastic soundtrack (very raw, hardcore music), which goes along perfectly to the style and theme of the plot of the movie. The two leading Mexican actors have apparently never done any movies before this one, but still manage to come across perfectly as these everyday-Mexicans, just trying to get by in a hard world, even if it may require doing things they don't appreciate very much.
USED PARTS
(Partes usadas)
(Mexico/2007/Color/95 mins.)
Director: Aarón Fernández Lesur
Writer: Aarón Fernández Lesur
Stars: Emery Eduardo Granados, Alan Chávez and Carlos Ceja
Ivan, a 14-year old boy, lives with his uncle Jaime, a mediocre dealer of used car parts. Both of them dream with a better life and are stashing away their money in order to emigrate illegally to Chicago shortly. When Jaime realizes that he needs much more money than he expected in order to pay the "Coyote" that will help them cross the border, he decides to introduce his nephew into the world of car-part theft. Ivan learns quickly the know-how of his new trade and convinces Efrain, his best friend, to help him. The kids enjoy themselves together and carry out Jaime's orders skillfully until Ivan realizes that his uncle's intentions for the trip have changed since they first made their plans.
MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WOLD
(Mas que a nada en el mundo)
(Mexico/2006/Color/90 mins.)
Directors: Andrés León Becker, Javier Solar
Writers: Andrés León Becker, Javier Solar
Stars: Elizabeth Cervantes, Juan Carlos Colombo and Julia Urbini
The relationship between beautiful Emilia (Elizabeth Cervantes) and her imaginative young daughter, Alicia, is tested in this understated Mexican drama. Disoriented after moving to a new apartment and left to herself when her mother starts bringing men home, Alicia takes refuge in dreams that soon become nightmares, especially after she begins to fear that her mom has become possessed by the vampirism man next door. With a keen eye for the rhythms and struggles of contemporary Mexican family life, this film illuminates the secret worlds of lonely children while never straying from its true subject: the uncommon love between a single mother and her child.
The captivating young lead, gives a rich performance with layers of emotional range rarely seen in such a young actress. The film artfully combines the surreal, the comic, the poignant and the tragic, creating a potent film about growing up and a complicated mother/daughter elationship, brilliantly executed by Andres Leon Becker, Javier Solar."
CRAZY CARNIVAL
(El carnival de Sodoma)
(Mexico/2006/Color/119 mins.)
Director: Arturo Ripstein
Writers : Paz Alicia Garciadiego, Pedro Antonio Valdez (novel)
Stars: Marta Aura, María Barranco and Alejandro Camacho
In this black comedy, master Mexican director Arturo Ripstein (The Holy Office, Deep Crimson) presents another of his trademark looks at the twin forces of absurdity and pathos. Based on a novel by Pedro Antonio Valdez, the film weaves five episodic tales centered around a decrepit Mexican brothel run by a Chinese immigrant, Chang (Samuel Gallegos), and protested nightly by a Christian group who hopes to shut it down. Among the cast of characters who populate this modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah are Chang's long-suffering wife, an eccentric stable of hookers, and an especially seedy roster of customers (including corrupt politicians and deranged priests), resulting in a carnivalesque tapestry of the human condition.
PAN’S LABYRINTH
(El laberinto del fauno)
(Mexico/2006/Color/112 mins.)
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writers : Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarion
Stars: IvanaBaquero, Doug Jones, Sergi Lopez
Music: Javier Navanrete
Camera: Guillermo Navarro
Pan's Labyrinth takes place in Spain in May–June 1944, five years after the Spanish Civil War, during the early Francoist period. The narrative of the film interweaves this real world with a fantasy world centered around an overgrown abandoned labyrinth and a mysterious faun creature, with which the main character, Ofelia, interacts. Ofelia's stepfather, the Falangist Captain Vidal, hunts the Spanish Maquis who fight against the Fascist reign in the region, while Ofelia's pregnant mother grows increasingly ill. Ofelia meets several strange and magical creatures who become central to her story, leading her through the trials of the old labyrinth garden. The film employs make-up, animatronics and CGI effects to bring life to its creatures.
Academy Awards
Winner : Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Makeup
Nominated : Best Original Score, Best Original Screenplay, Best Foreign Language Film
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THE DESERT INSIDE
(Desierto adentro)
(Mexico/2008/Color/110 mins.)
Director: Rodrigo Pla
Writers : Rodrigo Pla, Laura Santullo
Stars: Mario Zaragoza, Diego Catagio, Guillermo Dorantes
"Desierto Adentro" ("Desert Inside") -- a drama set against the backdrop of Mexico's Cristero War, which took place between 1926 and 1929 -- won prizes for best actor, awarded to Mario Zaragoza; best special effects; best visual effects; best sound; best original score; best photography; best original screenplay; and best supporting actor.
The film is set against the backdrop of Mexico's Cristero War, which took place between 1926 and 1929, when the Mexican government banned Catholicism and persecuted its followers. Clergy are separated from their congregations and worship is forbidden.
Elias, the central character of the film, follows his wife's wishes by seeking out a priest to perform the last rites on their unborn son, whom she fears will die due to a fall she sustained. Upon finding one, he manages to persuade the priest to return with him to the village to perform the last rites, despite putting the safety of the community at risk. The Federales follow the pair and kill every man, woman and child in the village. Elias's family are able to escape, although his wife dies while giving birth to their son.
Captured, Elias realises he is responsible for the deaths of his entire community and begs the priest for forgiveness before his execution. The priests says he is unable to do so and curses Elias's bloodline. Elias escapes and becomes obsessed with the concept of atoning for his sin. He moves his remaining seven children to the desert where they begin to build a monument to God. As his children begin to die through illness and accident, Elias maintains that God has forsaken him and his religious beliefs turn from reverence to homicidal and take over his and his children’s lives.
BACKYARD
(El traspatio)
(Mexico/2009/Color/122 mins.)
Director: Carlos Carrera
Writers : Sabina Berman
Stars: Ana de la Requera, asur Zagada, Marco Perez
An astonishing fictional account of the unending series of murders of young women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, which began in 1996. Most of the victims are low-paid laborers who have been drawn to the town by the possibility of work at American-owned factories. In the film Mexican police officer Blanca Bravo is sent to Cuidad Juarez to investigate and comes to learn realities of these women's lives, as well as the truth about a police force and local power structure embodied by entrepreneur Mickey Santos that has ceased to care.
