Uncovering Mexico
Jeremy Schwartz is the Mexico correspondent for Cox Newspapers. He is based in Mexico City.What's on this page?
All the entries posted on October 22, 2007.
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Home > Uncovering Mexico > Archives > 2007 > October > 22
Monday, October 22, 2007
Mennonite movie worth 7-minute ovation?
At the Cannes Film Festival, the new Mexican film “Luz Silenciosa (Silent Light)” received a seven-minute standing ovation after its screening, on its way to winning the prestigious jury prize. So when the movie finally came to Mexico this month, I had to see what the fuss was about.
My wife and I scored tickets to a pre-screening with the director, Carlos Reygadas, at the UNAM, Mexico’s massive 100,000-student state university. Reygadas is a bona fide trailblazer: he has made a name for himself by refusing to use trained actors and employing hardcore sex scenes in his previous works. His latest film though is almost more meditation than movie - it takes place in the largely unexplored world of Mexican Mennonites in the border state of Chihuahua.
It’s clear Luz Silenciosa is breaking new ground from the first scene: A full 10 minutes of an approaching dawn, from the starry desert sky to the first colorful blasts of sunrise. That sets the tone for the rest of the movie: visually arresting, quiet, and deliberate.
As in his previous works, Reygadas uses regular people: in this case Mennonites with no acting experience. You’d never know it though - the three lead actors give emotionally wrenching performances.
Reygadas filmed the movie in Mennonite communities, which may be the most amazing thing about this amazing movie. In a Q&A session after the movie, Reygadas said he spend years laying the groundwork for the movie, meeting Mennonite leaders, building trust and finding actors.
Having visited Mexican Mennonite communities, I can imagine how hard this was. In La Honda, Zacatecas where I did story about a Mennonite who won a seat in the state Congress, Mennonites had embraced pickup trucks and mechanized farm equipment, but most refused to watch television. Some schools would not allow students who came from homes with TVs, calling them contaminated. When we tried to take a photo of one Mennonite farmer, he only relented when we swore that we worked for a newspaper and not a TV station.
So was the movie worth a seven-minute ovation? I can only say it’s unlike anything I’ve seen on film. Check it out if you get the chance: you may not be moved to stand and clap (unless you’re a film student), but it will be a unique movie experience.