The Howls (2020) Neighboring Scenes 2021

Julio Hernández Cordón's free form film is kind of impossible to classify as to what it is. A self aware film that has to director's daughter wandering trough various vignettes where Francisco Barreiro plays nine or ten different roles, the film talks about the history of Mexico, the area called Texcoco, his family and werewolves.

Kind of feeling like many covid projects I've run across in the last few months, but in reality something that was shot earlier during Cordon's daughter's school vacation (the film played some fests early in 2020) this is a film that feels more like a goof than something serious. I don't mean that in a bad way since the film entertains and has some interesting things to say about the various subjects it covers, rather I mean it just feels like a bunch of friends and family screwing around to fill time. I say this partly because we have the multiple roles of Barreiro and partly because it kind of feels like its a bunch of scenes shot on the fly.

Truth be told I genuinely like the film. I had a good time watching it but I'm not going to pretend that it is anything other than a footnote film. Sure it has some interesting things to say about Mexico and family and werewolves, but at the same time the construction makes it feel slight. Still I laughed and smiled and pondered which frankly is enough.

Worth a look.

Samichay: In Search of Happiness (2020) Neighboring Scenes 2021

 

This is a stunningly beautiful film about a man and his cow. Set high in the Peruvian Andes the film is the story of a solitary farmer who thinks his cow will bring him happiness if he can just manage to sell it.

Largely told in long beautifully composed black and white shots, the film this is a film not just about the narrative of the farmer but also about the isolated existence of the people who live in the mountains. As we see in almost every shot, there is no one around for miles and living in the mountains solitary existence.

How you are going to react to the film is going to depend upon how you feel about a film told in a series of long takes in which we are kept, largely, at "arms" length from the action. I liked  the way the story was told and I was carried along, thanks in large part to the incredible widescreen images. At the same time I fully understand anyone who needs constant action and motion is going to be asleep rater quickly.

If you want to see a film whose images will haunt you all year then SAMICHAY: IN SEARCH OF HAPPINESS is a must. 

Panquiaco (2020) Neighboring Scenes 2021

This dreamlike narrative borders on being a documentary as we follow Cebaldo as he drifts from Portugal through the cities and wilds of Panama. 

As the film opens Cebaldo is living in Portugal where he works on a fishing boat. haunted by thoughts, images and sounds of home in Panama he decides to travel home.

Less a narrative than a portrait of one man and his feelings of home PANQUIACO sucks us in early as we wonder what we are seeing. Open matte images of indigenous people fill the screen. The film then shifts to Cebaldo and his life far from home. We watch him going through his paces and talking to friends and co-workers. Its an intriguing slice of life where his past is constantly calling to him.

I fell into PANQUIACO. I loved its dreamlike quality and gladly went along with its travel deep into the subconscious. I was carried along by its images and thoughtful probing of how we can never leave our past behind. I liked the film so much that when I finished the film I started it again  before heading off to my own dreams for the evening.

Recommended.

ONE IN A THOUSAND (2020) Neighboring Scenes 2021

Iris is a young woman living in a housing project with friends in Argentina. She is attracted to and falls for Renata a young woman a few years older than herself.

A good if rambling slice of life, ONE IN THOUSAND shows puts us into a world where first love is not as easy as some might imagine. It is a nice look at a bunch of LGBT friends wo are looking to just get by, while Iris is simply trying to navigate love and what it will mean to her world since she will truly be out.

A beautifully made film with a cast of non professionals there is much to like thanks to the open and inviting performances of the cast. They make this a film that we want to engage with even if at times the view of the world the film presents is a little too perfect.

Quibbles of the plotting aside my only real problem with the film is the pacing. Running just under two hours the film at times seems a bit unfocused as it lets events play out much too leisurely In all honesty if the film was trimmed it would be a film I loved instead of just liked

Recommended

Night Shot (2020) Neighboring Scenes 2021

Carolina Moscoso's gut punch meditation on rape was assembled from a decades worth of film. It is not strictly speaking a film about the act but about the seismic change that occurs within the victim and the inability of society to give her justice.

One part documentary, one part meditation, and one art essay Moscoso's film is a heady trip that will rock you. More concerned with creating a head space that effects our thinking, and thus changing the way we see the world, NIGHT SHOT works us over. This isn't a film that goes from A to B to C and allows us to simply walk away. Instead this film puts us into the mind of its director and has us wander around in her shoes for a while altering our perceptions and forcing us to truly engage with what sexual violence is. To be certain it can be a bit chaotic and seeming uncertain as to what it all means but I would think having your world altered in such a violent manner will do that to you

Simply put this film left me staring at the screen, trying desperately to piece together what to say. On the other hand this film is such an emotional rollercoaster and trip into the head space of another person that writing on the film is incredibly difficult since the act of seeing the film is not one can adequately express in words any more than one can explain what riding a rollercoaster is. I can do it but only to those who have ridden a coaster since the act of doing, or in this case seeing will give us a shared vocabulary.

To that end see NIGHT SHOT at Neighboring Scenes and experience the things I am in aable of expressing in words.