Hola Mexico ’10: Bitten Bullet

Mexico City cops who want to be issued vests with genuine Kevlar have to pay a seventy-five peso bribe—each morning. Such internal corruption is a fact of life for police in the Mexican capital according to Diego Muñoz’s gritty crime drama Bitten Bullet (trailer here), which screened during the fourth annual Hola Mexico Film Festival in New York.

In many ways, Mexico City resembles pre-Giuliani New York. Sprawling and crime ridden, it is tempting to write it off as ungovernable, yet many resident like Muñoz still would not live anywhere else. Cops like Commander Alatorre are not helping the city’s reputation. As Bitten opens, he has sent a squad to conclude a drug deal with a former officer. Unfortunately, when Officer Hernandez tries to skim a few pesos off the top, the deal goes spectacularly bad. Through a chaotic chain of events, he is stabbed in the chest through his junky vest, becoming a media hero for the day. As a result, he is promoted, but since this entails more face time with Alatorre, it is definitely a mixed blessing.

Bitten is like Training Day on amphetamines and tequila. Just when you think you have seen Mexico City’s finest at their worst, Muñoz pulls a fresh injustice out of his hat. It is clearly a movie fueled by passion and outrage, but it probably has more power speaking to a local audience. Unyieldingly dark and violent, its relentless nihilism quickly becomes exhausting. Still, it is an accomplished feature directorial from Muñoz, who ratchets up the intensity quite impressively.

Miguel Rodarte also contributes a very effective performance as the thoroughly stressed out and morally compromised Hernandez. However, distinguished Mexican actor Damián Alcázar comes across a bit cartoonish as Alatorre (perhaps it is the villainous moustache), until he starts doing truly unspeakable things on-screen.

Clearly, Bitten is not a family film. Graft, drug use, and violence against women (and anyone else) are casual and commonplace in the world of these law enforcement officers. Muñoz shows it all for legitimate dramatic reasons though. If anything, he lets the crooked cops off easy, condemning the environment that produced them more than the corrupt characters themselves. The result is a memorable film, but one likely to leave audiences cold. Given its controversial message decrying corruption in Mexico’s capital, Bitten was a typically bold selection for the always adventurous Hola Mexico, opening the traveling festival in Los Angeles and concluding its six city tour in New York last night, but this year’s highlight was probably Humberto Hinojosa Ozcariz’s Black Sheep.

Hola Mexico ’10: Love on a WKND

Nothing brings out nationalism like sports and politics. On a fateful weekend before Mexico’s divisive 2006 national election, their World Cup team played a critical elimination match. Yet, for three women in complicated relations, all the roiling national fervor is just background noise to their own personal dramas in Salvador Aguirre’s Love on a WKND (trailer here), which screens as part of this year’s Hola Mexico Film Festival.

The rich are different, because they do indeed have more money. Without the mundane worries of survival, Joaquín and Teresa can enjoy a quiet weekend as houseguests of his boss Luis. Angling for a promotion to an American division, they partake in plenty of coke and some friendly wife-swapping. Hey, what could go wrong with that? Meanwhile, one young woman faces more existential issues. A street war incited by a socialist political party between itinerant street hawkers and the more established vendors working the “stalls” threatens to drive a wedge between her and her lover. She also happens to be pregnant, making her situation all the more delicate.

Clearly the middle class characters are those most concerned with keeping up appearances. For Sophia, this can be very painful as she listens to her former lover André’s mournful violin from the apartment next door while wondering about what might have been. None of the featured characters is particularly political in WKND. In fact, when politics intrudes in their lives, it represents demagoguery and even death. Neither are they especially interested in the big match, but in a quietly heavy scene, André explains he has to watch it anyway “because it’s Mexico.”

While WKND spans generations and classes, its characters never intersect. Frankly, this is a refreshing change from scores of festival films that consist of little more than chance meetings and crossed paths of a host of seemingly unrelated individuals. Each story here is essentially discrete and unrelated, aside from the common time frame. Perhaps the weakest arc of the film involves the upper class hedonists, but might offer the greatest entertainment value, since it features the frequently nude Paola Núñez as the young wife. Conversely, the most challenging storyline graphically illustrates the dangerous absurdity of class warfare run amok, yet ultimately reaches the most hopeful note.

However, the best performances far and away are seen during the scenes of middle class yearning. Argentinean based Mexican actress Adriana Barraza (Oscar nominated for Babel) gives a knockout performance as Sophia, the profoundly unhappy wife and mother. Likewise, Juan Carlos Barreto is quietly poignant as the heartsick André.

Like most ensemble multi-stranded films, WKND is somewhat uneven. Wisely though, it does not force artificial connections or indulge in much pretentious soul-searching. Distinguished by several very strong performances and some grittily realistic scenes of ideological violence, WKND has enough to recommend it. It screens again during the Hola Mexico Film Festival this Sunday (6/6) at the Quad.

Hola Mexico ’10: Black Sheep

In one rural Mexican community, sheep are almost as valuable as cold hard cash. They are harder to steal though. Still, that does not stop one miserable shepherd from getting ideas in Humberto Hinojosa Ozcariz’s Black Sheep (trailer here), which screened yesterday at the 2010 Hola Mexico Film Festival in New York.

In true noir fashion, Sheep is told as a flashback by a hitchhiker who has just been kicked off a trailer truck loaded with sheep. Those sheep hold a lot of meaning for him as he explains to the drowsy trucker who picks him shortly thereafter. Yet he was only a bystander, watching as the morality tale unfolded.

His story centers on Jose, a young orphan sent to live with the wealthy Don Leandro by the village priest. Never welcomed into the family, Jose lived like a servant, constantly belittled by the powerful landowner and his sadistic son Jeronimo. Making matters worse, Maria, the beautiful daughter of the local fireworks manufacturer, initially favored Jose over Jeronimo. However, as she grew-up, she gravitated towards the wealth and position of the unstable son of privilege, temporarily forgetting the sensitive young shepherd. As the abuse escalates, Jose hatches a plan to steal Don Leandro’s sheep (and hopefully Jeronimo’s girl) with the help of his faithful sidekick Kumbia.

Equal parts noir-ish thriller and naturalistic drama, Sheep is a tightly constructed film that avoids most of the pitfalls of both genres. For instance, while the Padre is corrupt to an extent, he is not without redeeming qualities. Indeed, Carlos Aragon’s performance is truly nuanced and ultimately sympathetic. Yet, the film is undeniably driven by Jose, played with restrained intensity by Christian Vasquez. He sells each twist quite well, holding our sympathies despite his occasional acts of moral expediency.

More cinematic than many gritty character-driven noirs, Sheep looks great. The hardscrabble landscape sparkles through the lens of cinematographer Kenji Katori and Hinojosa creates a vivid sense of life in the depressed and depressing provincial village. Though deeply rooted in its Mexican locale, it is hardly seems like a film to carry their Chamber of Commerce seal of approval, given its frank depictions of unchecked corruption and exploitation. Regardless, it is a thoroughly engrossing film, making it an effective representative of Mexican cinema.

Sheep might be a dark film, but it is also surprisingly satisfying. While sentiment and romanticism are in short supply, it is a nicely executed thriller for adults. Highly recommended, it screens again today (6/4) as part of this year’s Hola Mexico Film Fest at the Quad.