Not the best movie I've seen... not even dark, acid enough. It is to be taken as a farcical look at Mexican social reality.
Some things aren't shown the way they really are in my country, such as the ideal family portrayed in it or even the house or neighborhood they live in.
But the way public officials deal with matters such as those they are confronted to in this movie is close enough. The way super-rich live also pretty close to reality, houses and all (and yes, there really are super-rich people in Mexico... one of them even ranks just below Bill Gates according to Fortune Magazine).
As for the poor... millions of people live like that in my country, way below any concept of dignity or any other ideas or social values we are fortunate to have been taught and live by. They are born and die in misery, without the faintest hope of ever getting out of poverty. To be sure, they are not that articulate or sympathetic, of course, so you need actors and a script to play their roles, and that way it is actually possible to be entertained for two hours by their coming and goings, which in real life are much too harsh and painful to be called tragedy.
But particular features of any given human existence taken out, the movie lets you catch a glimpse of what could be called the results of the World's economic and political organization.
And then, it could also be called tragedy.
Some things aren't shown the way they really are in my country, such as the ideal family portrayed in it or even the house or neighborhood they live in.
But the way public officials deal with matters such as those they are confronted to in this movie is close enough. The way super-rich live also pretty close to reality, houses and all (and yes, there really are super-rich people in Mexico... one of them even ranks just below Bill Gates according to Fortune Magazine).
As for the poor... millions of people live like that in my country, way below any concept of dignity or any other ideas or social values we are fortunate to have been taught and live by. They are born and die in misery, without the faintest hope of ever getting out of poverty. To be sure, they are not that articulate or sympathetic, of course, so you need actors and a script to play their roles, and that way it is actually possible to be entertained for two hours by their coming and goings, which in real life are much too harsh and painful to be called tragedy.
But particular features of any given human existence taken out, the movie lets you catch a glimpse of what could be called the results of the World's economic and political organization.
And then, it could also be called tragedy.