Mexfest Film Review - Made in Mexico Jonathan Deacon - Filmoria | |
go to original August 26, 2012 |
This month marked the launch of the inaugural London Mexfest – a festival celebrating Mexican cinema, culture and music. Made in Mexico (Spanish title Hecho en Mexico) received its worldwide premiere on the opening night to an audience of Mexicans and Brits alike.
The film is the brain wave of British composer Duncan Bridgeman and was billed as a documentary at the festival, but he believes he’s created a new genre and the closest thing to it is a music video than a documentary. I wouldn’t go that far, but it is certainly an unusual documentary and an experience.
It’s a crash course in contemporary Mexican culture delivered through a tapestry of talking heads and musical performances from luminaries of Mexican music, film, politics, sport, wrestling, religion, media and the man on the street all around universal and Mexican specific themes. The themes become chapter headings to break up the film and they include liberty, borders, resistance, the battle of the sexes, addiction, soul and the religion.
With each chapter there are talking head interviews from the contributors to the film and these are juxtaposed with musical performances about linked to the theme. In terms of the performances Bridgeman would either compose a new melody or play an existing song’s melody and then ask the musical artists to write lyrics and perform them based on that specific theme. Often two artists’ performances delivered independently would be blended into one or one would bleed into another – with polar opposites of the musical spectrum playing in harmony.
The filmmakers made the bold decision to not use captions for any of the contributors to the film so although some of the contributors are recognisable or look familiar – there is no way of knowing who they are until the credits roll and even then only their names are given. Bridgeman believes that by doing this it ensures that the audience listens to all the contributors equally and aren’t given more credence to one person or another based on their fame or title.
At first this approach was a little frustrating having gotten used to the traditional documentary style of captioning everyone and the fact that I recognised only a tiny handful of the contributors meant I felt a little lost at first. But by the end of the film – I was enjoying what they had to say and their performances, so it worked. Anyone with a broader knowledge of Mexican culture wouldn’t have had exactly the same experience, but they’re unlikely to know 100% of the people involved so they would still get the benefit.
Made in Mexico is kind of a paradox as it is very much a film for Mexicans about Mexicans made by a British man who knew nothing about Mexico who originally planned on making a film for foreigners. There was no plan other than to try and repeat the style of Bridgeman’s earlier musical odysseys 1 Giant Leap (2002) and 1 Giant Leap 2: What about me? (2008) the approach there was simply meeting musicians, jamming and recording the results on camera.
The film’s Mexican producer Lynn Fainchtein is a music supervisor supremo who has worked an impressive list of films in Hollywood and Mexico, and her involvement was key in terms of using her contacts within the country to get contributors to the film – of which there are 60 musical artists and 40 non-musicians. It enabled Bridgeman and his crew of five to begin filming in 2009, finishing in 2010 and racking up a mind boggling 450 hours of footage which needed to be edited.
The editing process must have been a mammoth task and that shows a little in the visual editing which is a little clunky at times with a tendency to overlay images during the musical performances, so on occasion the film has a clichéd music video vibe. But on the whole the look is nearly as vibrant as the sound, and the sound cannot be argued with as Bridgeman’s musical ear pays dividends as the music is top-notch from start to finish. The only real criticism is that at 100 minutes the film is a little longer than it should be and maybe a good ten or twenty minutes could have been trimmed off of it.
The film should appeal to South Americans and musical enthusiasts alike; and those who like to try something different on the big screen. But if you’re Mexican then this is a must see film celebrating your culture.
The film will premiere in Mexico in September 2012, and will most likely come out on short release in the US in October. At time of writing there was no information when the film will be released in the UK.
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