MEXICO CITY – Corso Cinema FILM (1)

Like Carlos Reygadas, on whose film Battle in Heaven he recently worked as assistant director, Amat Escalante is interested in the existential aspects of the life of the ordinary man. His revealing and prize-winning début, in which he works with non-professional actors, describes in sober tableaux the far from exuberant life of a simple person: Diego is a middle-aged man and his cross-eyed, expressionless face betrays the fact that he is far beyond the will to change. He does his work mechanically. Sleeping, eating, having sex and watching television are things he does with Blanca, the only person he has any contact with. When Diego gets a call from Karina, his daughter (ex-junkie) from a previous marriage, who asks him for help, Blanca gets very jealous. The dilemma facing Diego is too much for him. Escalante: ‘This project was born while I went about my daily life in Guanajuato. It was spawned by conversations I overheard while riding the bus, by the foods I observed people eating, the trash I saw them discard. The social and economic inequalities in my country have created a blatant cultural and human imbalance. This engenders disenchantment and frustration among a population which is no longer capable of taking charge of its own future. This is a society where people have lost all desire and all ability to engage in rational communication with each other, especially those close to them.’ (GT)