The Good Herbs

I saw this Mexican film during last year's Latino Film Festival.

A single mother Dalia works at an alternative radio station, and has a mother who is a botanist. The story is divided in sections with placecards showing different plants with remedies for symptoms that refer to the events or emotions of the film.

Dalia often writes down phrases or words she hears that she finds interesting, sticking them on her wall or in books or even writing on the walls themselves, which later is reflected in signs she posts for her mother to remember what things are when the older lady begins to suffer from Alzheimer's. Her mother's quick decline leaves Dalia at a loss of how to help her and Dalia becomes more and more frustrated.

CLFF 2013: Route of the Moon

This is a lighter road film/father-son comedy-drama from Panama that I saw at last month's Chicago Latino Film Festival. Tito is a professional bowler but is an albino, so he fears being made fun of.  He is invited to compete in a championship, and really wants to go, but just about this same time his estranged father Cesar in San Jose needs looking after.  Cesar has heart troubles and is a former boxing coach living in the past, believing he can still coach the next big champion.  Being a still active guy, the fact that his son is a champ in a "non-athletic" sport annoys him.  Their personalities also don't match, as Tito is closemouthed and Cesar is large as life. Against doctor's orders, Cesar drives himself and Tito back from San Jose but along the way picks up an attractive young hitchhiker, Yadia, because the bus won't also take her dog (although it runs away shortly after Cesar offers her a ride).  Her presence and perception of the father/son dynamics is what eventually gets Tito to realize that his father needs to be fulfilled as much as he does himself, even if it is in a small way.  As expected in films of this sort, Cesar too learns to appreciate his son’s personality.  Both men can give a little in order that each gets a little.

CLFF 2013: Peru Sabe

More and more I see television productions being entered into film festivals, or even getting some screen time in general theaters.  Most of them are in the documentary vein.

This documentary definitely felt like a television travelogue type show. There were two well known chefs who went around Peru and talked about how cooking is making social change in that country (the film is subtitled Cuisine as an Agent of Social Change), one of whom is the chef of El Bulli (which you might recall has its own documentary about it)—Ferran Adria. The other is Gaston Acurio, “the most famous chef you’ve never heard of” who has 31 restaurants in 12 countries.

CLFF 2013: In the Middle of Heaven

This plot could easily be transported to any country. An office executive Andrea at a design and advertising firm barely sees the janitor Gualberto who works at her building. She is a A-type personality but her boss challenges her to deliver a project much sooner than expected. Although she is only in her thirties, she sees the writing on the wall when he also gives a younger attractive rival the same opportunity, so Andrea needs to work all weekend to deliver. Unfortunately it is her birthday this weekend, and her best friend, who is also her trusted assistant, has to remind her which restaurant her boyfriend is meeting her at. Her friend/assistant encourages her to take some time to celebrate but Andrea angrily responds that she is not dedicated like herself to work on the weekend, and their friendship is tested.

After a bit Andrea feels guilty about breaking her birthday date with her boyfriend, but spills something on her blouse at the office and attempts to wash it before the date. She goes up on the roof of the office building to hang up her blouse to dry, but does not realize that the door that was propped open locks from the inside. Gualberto's colleagues had propped it open so that he could exit, as he was cleaning up for the night in a roof shed. Of course she closes the door in order not to be seen without her blouse.

As expected, once she and Gualberto are trapped on the roof, Andrea throws her weight around, making assumptions about Gualberto's intelligence, class etc. Gualberto good-naturedly takes it all in stride as he's seen these types of personalities before, and actually tries to help the ungrateful Andrea by offering her a soccer team flag as a blanket, or sharing his apple for a meal, or scrounging up an old tortilla to cook on his camp stove, as the night goes on.

There are a couple opportunities to call for help when Andrea's boyfriend comes to look for her, or when they throw a water bottle to a passerby, or when they try to get the attention of someone in the apartment building across the street, but all are unsuccessful. They both talk about their families--Gualberto's daughter whom he tries to instill his love of soccer to, and Andrea's father who tried to do the same to her. They find common ground when Andrea admits to Gualberto that she only pretended to like soccer to spend time with her dad and suggests Gualberto treat his daughter more like a girl than a boy.

Chicago Latino Film Festival

The Chicago Latino Film Festival began last week and I've already caught four films in the lineup.  So far my lineup has been strong, and despite films coming from different countries, there are some common themes among them.  Here's my list, and barring any work commitments, I hope to catch the entire lineup:

7 Boxes

This film focuses on the street kid Victor, as he shuffles around seven boxes filled with mysterious but coveted merchandise.  He tries to escape a rival, the police, and other people after the merchandise, while trying to make a living in Mercado 4 helping the market shoppers tote their purchases around.

Anima Buenos Aires

Four short animated stories from Buenos Aires are compiled into one screening, with different animation styles.

From Tuesday to Tuesday

As the title suggests, this story takes place over a week.  The main character appears to be a silent factory worker and body builder who takes advantage of a tragedy to benefit himself.

Garifuna in Peril

Based on real social events, a man works to preserve the Garifuna language and culture.  Garifuna is a South American culture near to Honduras, whose language is slowly dying out as new generations are learning English and Spanish instead.  This real life fight to save the language is depicted fictionally.

In the Middle of Heaven

A female ad exec locks herself and a maintenance man out of their office building, and bond as they wait for someone to let them back in.

Maydays

A local Chicago-made story of students observing and participating in the issue of employment rights of immigrants, focusing on two teen characters.

Peru Sabe: Cuisine as an Agent of Social Change

This film uses food to relate to aspects of Peru and its future.

Route of the Moon

A man and his father, two different personalities, have to travel together, picking up a hitchhiker on the way.

Sanandrenista

A small time corrupt cop finds he has to do some real work when he is accused of murder.

Speechless

A Chinese immigrant is helped by a hardware store employee/aspiring artist.

Three Marys

The stories of three women named Maria are examined as events of one night are told through their individual perspectives.

White Elephant

Two priests with opposing views are stuck in a drug war.

Other films I was interested in and could not fit into my schedule:

Man From the Future

A sort of "Back to the Future" story, a man returns 20 years into the past to change a moment in his life, hoping to improve it, only to return to current day to find it is worse.

Sofia and the Stubborn Man
Carmen Maura stars as Sofia, who is tired of her husband's treatment of her.  She takes an impromptu vacation away from him, leaving him to fend for himself.