The Oscars are upon us. Even though the ceremony is still months away, the countries that are vying for representation in the best international feature film category are choosing their best options. Mexico is no exception, and it has shortlisted six films that represent the best of the year regarding Mexican cinema. We will learn next Tuesday which movie has been picked to compete against the likes of Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina), La Llorona (Guatemala) and Night of the Kings (Ivory Coast) for a nomination.
Even though Mexican filmmakers have made history by winning several Oscars, this glory did not come through with Mexican productions. The famous “three amigos” – Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo del Toro – would savour Oscar glory with Gravity (2013), Birdman (2014) and The Revenant (2015), and The Shape of Water (2017), respectively.
It is curious to remember that two of these men represented Mexico in the best foreign language film category before becoming powerhouses. Two Iñárritu movies, for example, vied for the Oscar in two different occasions. First in 2000 with Amores Perros, a movie that would catapult Iñárritu’s career, and in 2010 with Biutiful, the tearjerker with Javier Bardem. However, the most painful defeat would happen in 2006, when Pan’s Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro, lost the Oscar to Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s The Lives of Others.
It would be Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma (2018), his first movie nominated in this category, the one that would finally bring glory to Mexico. This film, that received 10 Oscar nominations, brought the award to Mexico after 91 years of heartbreak and eight failed nominations.
This year’s prospects look promising and yet nerve-racking. The Mexican Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has put together an interesting group, and its final decision threatens to create a divide between the taste of the Mexican audience and the international public. Its decision is not simple; however, it does have options to bring a perfect solution to a complicated year in Mexican cinema.
The six short-listened films – Guie’dani’s Navel, I’m No Longer Here, I Carry You with Me, New Order, This is Not Berlin and Workforce – present topics that are too familiar to the Mexican people. Two of them – I’m No Longer Here and I Carry You with Me – deal with migration and the American dream, while three – Guie’dani’s Navel, New Order and Workforce – focus on issues of classism and racism. Here is a closer look to each of these films.
Guie’dani’s Navel (Dir. Xavi Sala)
The most discreet entry in the list, Guie’dani’s Navel, tackles classism through the eyes of a teenager. The story follows a Zapotecan indigenous girl (Sótera Cruz) that moves to Mexico City as her mother becomes the maid of an upper-class family. Here she will struggle to adapt in a household filled with microaggressions, condescending attitudes and racist comments.
Spanish director Xavi Sala accurately portrays the rebelliousness of a girl that rejects the idea of progress established by her mother. The audience accompanies Guie’dani as she discovers the privilege of the family she works for and the classism that exists in every interaction. The climax leads to an intense clash between the families, something that is much better accomplished than in New Order (see below).
The movie works as the perfect counterpart to previous winner, Roma. While Roma romanticises the relationship between maid and employer, Guie’dani’s Navel presents a more complex character with a sabotaging attitude and a privileged family that is far from sympathetic.
I Carry You with Me (Dir. Heidi Ewing)
How wonderful would it be if this movie represented Mexico in the Oscars? This film, by American documentarian Heidi Ewing, presents tough topics through a sensitive and empathetic lens. I Carry You with Me evolved from a documentary into a fictionalised story based on the lives of Iván (Armando Espitia) and Gerardo (Christian Vázquez), two gay men that lived in the city of Puebla in the 1990s. Iván dreamed of becoming a chef and Gerardo wanted to be with him no matter what.
The movie spans decades as it presents their love story, including the moment they meet in Mexico and the obstacles that appear once Iván moves to New York City. Themes of loneliness, migration, homesickness, and homophobia are touched in a delicate and empathetic way. It has earned fair comparisons to movies such as Call Me by Your Name and God’s Own Country, proving that its main topics of migration and love are universal. The fact that it won a couple of prizes in the last edition of the Sundance Film Festival – including the Audience Award in the NEXT category – reflects its acceptance by critics and audience.
Less showy and more sensible than the rest of the contenders, I Carry You with Me is sentiment and emotion. A stellar soundtrack, the guarantee of personal recognition and an inspiring real story make it the most comforting option.
I’m No Longer Here (Dir. Fernando Frías de la Parra)
I’m No Longer Here, by Mexican filmmaker Fernando Frías de la Parra, is easily the frontrunner in this selection. Recent winner of 10 Ariels (the Mexican equivalence to the Oscars), including best picture and best director, the Netflix production has proven to be a hit with the audience, the Mexican Academy, and critics. Having the support of two of the “three amigos” does not hurt either.
The movie succeeds in presenting common topics of Mexican cinema – migration and drugs – through an innovative and moving perspective. By focusing on a specific movement of counterculture in Mexico – the life of dancers of slowed-down cumbia –, Frías de la Parra succeeds in creating emotional involvement with the protagonist.
The story follows a young man (newcomer Juan Daniel García Treviño) living in the outskirts of Monterrey, northern Mexico, in company of his friends and his deep love for this unique music genre. His world changes when he finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time and he must go to the United States to get away from the local cartel that is after him. However, he cannot adapt to this place where he is completely alone, dealing with a language he cannot speak in an environment that constantly rejects him.
The movie presents the conundrum of not finding yourself in a place that guarantees your survival and the need to go back to your home, even if this means that your living conditions will be far from ideal. Thoughtful and critical of the environment that condones the crime in Mexico, I’m No Longer Here is the entry to beat.
New Order (Dir. Michel Franco)
The most controversial of these films, New Order by Michel Franco threatens to create a divide in the Mexican audience. While it received positive reviews from international outlets through its appearance in different film festivals – Venice, Toronto, and London – the reception at home has not been as kind. Criticised for being racist and classist, New Order fails to provide a real reflection of the Mexican people and our problems.
Instead, the movie uses damning stereotypes, lazy personifications, and a simplified storytelling to create a strong reaction in the audience without worrying about creating a reasonable story or real characters. By now, we are used to Franco’s need of intense reactions, however, it seems that this time he has gone too far.
The movie starts with a wedding in one of the richest neighbourhoods of Mexico City. The festivities are interrupted by a crowd of people wreaking havoc and committing terrible crimes in one of the worst representations of protesters ever portrayed on screen. Soon after, the city becomes a dystopian reality, controlled by corrupt armed forces. The film never introduces explanations for the protests nor changes that emerge from this “revolution”.
Although it has been severely criticised in Mexico, its acclaim in the international scenario may be the key factor for its selection by the Mexican Academy. However, this institution will have to choose between praise from the international community or sensitivity for the issues that are poorly portrayed in the film. Is this the movie that we want to represent us in the Oscars? The time of reckoning for the Academy has arrived.
This is Not Berlin (Dir. Hari Sama)
The only movie that does not dwell in Mexican tragedy to propel its narrative, This is Not Berlin is rather an intimate coming-of-age story, based on the life of director Hari Sama. The film centres in Carlos (Xabiani Ponce de León), a teenager that is seduced into the underground scene of Mexico City in the 1980s.
The movie explores Carlos’ experimental phase as he discovers a new paradigm that clashes with his comfortable life in the suburbs of the Mexican capital. These experiences give him a new perspective on arts and life, while confronting the difficulties in life through the experiences of others.
This is Not Berlin has received praise for its portrayal of the cultural revolution in Mexico, and many of the experiences can be easily identified by a whole generation. The movie received 12 Ariel nominations, however, it failed to receive a single award.
Workforce (Dir. David Zonana)
Workforce is probably the best of the three movies that address the class struggle in Mexico. The film by David Zonana follows Pancho, a builder that demands full compensation after his brother dies in the construction site where they worked. Pancho is ignored and denied of justice, reasons why he takes the matter in his own hands and moves into the house they were building.
Besides addressing the struggle between rich and poor, the movie explores a fatalistic view of what happens when someone gets power, showing instances of abuse and treason. Although it is not perfect – the depiction of women is disappointing – Workforce does succeed in portraying the corruption of human nature and the decadence of a society that demands a revolution without the true desire of generalised change.
The film received two awards in the Ariels, one for best first film for Zonana and another for best actor for Luis Alberti’s interpretation of Pancho. The movie has earned comparisons, visually and thematically, to Parasite. Consequently, the Mexican Academy should consider whether AMPAS is willing to recognise Workforce just one year after the Korean movie made history. Although a flattering comparison, in this context it may be counterproductive.
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