***DEFINITELY HAS SPOILERS!!!***
I had no idea what this was when I began watching it--and was blown away! On the surface, this movie does an EXCELLENT job of portraying a culture I knew nothing about. I didn't just 'watch' it--I lived it right along with the characters. Very well done! But I was moved by something more--there were universal themes in this film that run much deeper than just being immersed in an unknown culture, which its tragedies highlighted even more...
1) I was deeply touched by the love this mother had for her daughter. At one point she says all she wants is for her daughter to be happy and protected. That emotion transcends all worlds (First World or Third World). All loving mothers hope for something similar for their daughters. The scene where the mother is dragging her daughter--literally bearing her burden--was very real to me. That symbolizes exactly what many mothers are willing to do for their children.
2) I found the greatest tension in the film was between generations versus culture shifts. Even though the story takes place in a society with very little education, the daughter is aware enough to know that there is something 'more' out there, beyond the barrier of the volcano. She longs for that, more than she longs for Pepe or for her mother's life recycled for herself (via an arranged marriage). But the daughter is not educated enough to know how to achieve it. With all the domestic skills her mother taught her in preparation for adult life, her mother was unable to prepare her daughter for the advancing shift in culture.
At the end of the movie, I was left wondering what the daughter's own children would encounter beyond what she knew, and what tensions--and eventual changes--the next generation would experience because of it, that the daughter herself could not prepare them for. In that way she is destined to repeat her mother's history--of not being able to prepare her children for the inevitable advancing change in culture, thus leaving them just as vulnerable to it as she was.
Side Note: While I have great respect for cultures far different than my own, I have to wonder if their evolution into a First World existence is something really to be mourned. I fail to see how one can preserve such culture while still giving women greater freedom. I don't think that's possible without an introduction to the First World and its influence and, I think, is the reason why 'America' is so admired from afar. As grossly imperfect as 'America' is, I know as a woman living here I've enjoyed tremendous freedoms in contrast to the women portrayed in this movie.
3) I found it hugely ironic that an unwanted pregnancy (with multiple failed abortion attempts) then became--once successfully done away with--something to mourn over with a funeral. I'm not diminishing the daughter's grief--I don't think she ever really wanted to lose the child. I just found that twist interesting.
4) The most significant aspect of this film, for me, was the portrayal of the strength of women and how, regardless of their circumstances, they rely on themselves to meet the demands of daily living. So many young married women I know of today (in my First World existence) look to their husbands to 'fulfill' them emotionally. I have tried to prepare my own daughter for adult life, married or single, by counseling her to learn to be her own best friend and to find healthy ways to fulfill her own emotional needs, even if married. Because ultimately and eventually, life will demand that we stand strong on our own two feet, just as the mother does in this film, even while living in the shadows of a male-dominated society.
For those who might find it objectionable, be aware that this film contains nudity and sex scenes, and some violence (animal slaughtered). I don't recall reading any foul language in the subtitles.
I had no idea what this was when I began watching it--and was blown away! On the surface, this movie does an EXCELLENT job of portraying a culture I knew nothing about. I didn't just 'watch' it--I lived it right along with the characters. Very well done! But I was moved by something more--there were universal themes in this film that run much deeper than just being immersed in an unknown culture, which its tragedies highlighted even more...
1) I was deeply touched by the love this mother had for her daughter. At one point she says all she wants is for her daughter to be happy and protected. That emotion transcends all worlds (First World or Third World). All loving mothers hope for something similar for their daughters. The scene where the mother is dragging her daughter--literally bearing her burden--was very real to me. That symbolizes exactly what many mothers are willing to do for their children.
2) I found the greatest tension in the film was between generations versus culture shifts. Even though the story takes place in a society with very little education, the daughter is aware enough to know that there is something 'more' out there, beyond the barrier of the volcano. She longs for that, more than she longs for Pepe or for her mother's life recycled for herself (via an arranged marriage). But the daughter is not educated enough to know how to achieve it. With all the domestic skills her mother taught her in preparation for adult life, her mother was unable to prepare her daughter for the advancing shift in culture.
At the end of the movie, I was left wondering what the daughter's own children would encounter beyond what she knew, and what tensions--and eventual changes--the next generation would experience because of it, that the daughter herself could not prepare them for. In that way she is destined to repeat her mother's history--of not being able to prepare her children for the inevitable advancing change in culture, thus leaving them just as vulnerable to it as she was.
Side Note: While I have great respect for cultures far different than my own, I have to wonder if their evolution into a First World existence is something really to be mourned. I fail to see how one can preserve such culture while still giving women greater freedom. I don't think that's possible without an introduction to the First World and its influence and, I think, is the reason why 'America' is so admired from afar. As grossly imperfect as 'America' is, I know as a woman living here I've enjoyed tremendous freedoms in contrast to the women portrayed in this movie.
3) I found it hugely ironic that an unwanted pregnancy (with multiple failed abortion attempts) then became--once successfully done away with--something to mourn over with a funeral. I'm not diminishing the daughter's grief--I don't think she ever really wanted to lose the child. I just found that twist interesting.
4) The most significant aspect of this film, for me, was the portrayal of the strength of women and how, regardless of their circumstances, they rely on themselves to meet the demands of daily living. So many young married women I know of today (in my First World existence) look to their husbands to 'fulfill' them emotionally. I have tried to prepare my own daughter for adult life, married or single, by counseling her to learn to be her own best friend and to find healthy ways to fulfill her own emotional needs, even if married. Because ultimately and eventually, life will demand that we stand strong on our own two feet, just as the mother does in this film, even while living in the shadows of a male-dominated society.
For those who might find it objectionable, be aware that this film contains nudity and sex scenes, and some violence (animal slaughtered). I don't recall reading any foul language in the subtitles.