Film
Title (***)
review by Jon
Waterman
Homero is one of the top painters in Querétaro, Mexico.
He’s well respected by the art community, and, despite
his age, well liked by the younger members of the opposite
sex. Everything seems to be going great for him until one day
he finds himself unable to see the color green (as it is replaced
by white). The doctor tells him that he suffers from a rare
disorder that will soon also take away his ability to see blue
hues and finally red, thus leaving him completely blind. Meanwhile,
Mei seems to be coming into her own as a young woman. She’s
finally met a boy she likes and in general is content with
her life. Then one day, her prostitute mother leaves her to
care for her grandparents, forcing her to become a maid within
the brothel that used to employ her mother.
The film starts off with a shot of an empty bedroom splattered
with blood, followed by the real opening of the film “one
year earlier.” They come back to this scene every once
in a while. Normally, I’m against the whole flashback
(or in this case, flashforward) thing, but this time it works.
I can’t really explain why without potentially spoiling
anything, but it’s pretty necessary to make the film
as a whole and as an experience more effective. The rest of
story is very well done, too. However, there is one thing that
irked me. It seems pretty clear from the start that these two
are going to cross paths at some point, but it takes a very
long time for them to even share the same space. Then after
that, it takes longer before they’re interacting. I found
it a little disheartening waiting for something you knew had
to happen.
This was overcome somewhat by the visual transitions, which
encapsulate the beautiful cinematography by Héctor Ortega
(under Director/writer Patricia Arriaga. The two stories come
together through simple yet effective overlapping imagery such
as marrying his camera flash to her flashlight. The film also
does a good job of showing what Homero is seeing (or not seeing).
Several point-of-view shots clue us in to his helplessness
as bold blue and red colors pop out while blurs surrounded
by a blinding (pun intended?) white pierces the rest of the
frame. It’s easy to feel his pain just as it is easy
to feel Mei’s growing despair and gradual cynicism as
she tries to fight what everyone tells her is her destiny.
Of course the amazing nuanced performances by the actors (Sergi
Mateu and Marisol Centeno) certainly don’t hurt either.
This film had the potential to be much worse than it actually
ended up being. It was shot nicely, but got right up to the
edge of being over the top. The metaphors and themes were very
standard. The story at times was thin and predictable. But
despite all of that, Arriaga is able to pull it off surprisingly
well. Just about when you think the film is going to become
dull or average, it shows you something of interest again.
I can’t say it’s the most mind-blowing film out
there, but it’s certainly entertaining and well worth
finding.
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