La bala de Sandoval

A near-death experience can be a Rorschach test for how much weight we place on coincidence. Two such incidents would make anyone consider the existence of fate. Jean-Jacques Martinod’s camera finds quiet contemplation in a tropical rainforest in Ecuador, while we hear death-defying Isidro Varga (and his brother) recollect the times when a bullet and a broken bottle nearly ended his life. The tone of Martinod's film hovers between carefree nonchalance and pensive caution: as if to say that chance and destiny are unexpected neighbours.