I watched as many Mexican films as possible this year and still couldn't make a top 10 of favorites. Some of the Mexican movies that were acclaimed in 2014 (Workers and The Naked Room, for example) were 2013 for me; others were technically impeccable but I just didn't love them (I'm talking particularly of Güeros). This is, after all, a subjective selection; so personal that it only includes six great titles.
On the other hand, I was hesitant to make a list highlighting the worst of the year. Maybe is pointless, but when it comes to Mexican cinema, 2014 was such a bad year in my mind that I just needed to say so. It was extremely easy to think in 15 awful movies and they could have been more. I didn't watch, for instance, the Juan Gabriel musical ¿Qué le Dijiste a Dios?, which was destroyed by the critics to the point that the director herself began insulting people who didn't like her film on Twitter.
When it comes to the industry itself, Mexican movies did all right at the box office. Not as great as in 2013, obviously, but four titles surpassed the $100 million pesos barrier. (You can read more about the top grossing Mexican films of the year here). In the international festival circuit, the most important film that Mexico had was Güeros, which won at Berlin, Tribeca, and several others. The victory of Navajazo at Locarno was very relevant as well.
But without more prelude, you can find my personal picks for the best and the worst of Mexican cinema in the gallery below.
The Best
6. PERFECT OBEDIENCE (dir. Luis Urquiza)
Perfect Obedience (Obediencia Perfecta) is based on a very famous Mexican priest, named Marcial Maciel, who was accused of molesting children.
The film is told from the perspective of a little kid who’s one of the new students of the Maciel-founded organization that teaches what you need to know in order to “save souls” as a preacher. At times it feels like any social realism work about the school system, but it’s eventually a study of the “perfect obedience” term, presenting several imperfect facets until the kid is totally surrendered to his mentor.
While we get to see how the priests educate the children by warning them about such temptations as women - as well as other sins - the picture exposes the life full of excesses (women, alcohol, heroin, and the Rolling Stones’ music) of father Ángel de la Cruz (the equivalent of Maciel, superbly played by Juan Manuel Bernal). The church’s double moral, indeed.
The Best
5. HEIGHTS (dir. Gabriel Nuncio)
Who would have imagined that a film based on a notorious and controversial real-life case of extreme violence - which was exploited by the Mexican media - turned out to be one of the most subtle and interesting character studies of the year?
Far, far away from the yellow journalism, director Gabriel Nuncio explored the killer of Cumbres case from a completely different perspective. Heights (Cumbres the original title) is not about Diego Santoy (a teenager who will remain in jail for the rest of his life as he killed the two little brothers of his then girlfriend), but rather about the relationship of two sisters who doesn’t really know each other. And there’s some real beauty in that.
The Best
4. THE INCIDENT (dir. Isaac Ezban)
Isaac Ezban’s debut feature is low-budget cinema at its best. A film entirely based on its ideas, which are both exciting and very human. I wrote an extensive review of The Incident back in May - naming it since then one of the most intriguing Mexican films of the year - and I feel the exact same way about it today.
The Best
3. THE HAMSTERS (dir. Gil González)
The Hamsters is the kind of movie you don’t expect to come out from the CCC school, as I really believe it can work for a wide audience. It’s a very accessible, honest, and funny display of a typical dysfunctional family. Whether you’re a teenager or an adult, it’s pretty much impossible not to relate to it in one war or the other.
The Best
2. THE SEARCHES (dir. José Luis Valle)
After Workers and The Searches, José Luis Valle is most definitely one of the young filmmakers to watch.
This is almost an exercise, done in few days with pretty much no budget, but one that actually has a story to share and an intimate and interesting connection between its two protagonists. The way it portraits Greater Mexico City is also one of the reasons I consider it a worth watching picture.
The Best
1. NARCO CULTURA (dir. Shaul Schwarz)
Near the ending of Narco Cultura, a documentary co-production between Mexico and the US, we see footage of a cemetery in Sinaloa, Mexico. That’s where the deceased members of the drug cartel rest in peace. It’s an incredible cemetery, with all kinds of luxury. Hell, it’s a beautiful town more than a graveyard, much more beautiful than the city of Juarez itself, where thousands of people have been murdered due the Mexican drug war.
The two protagonists of Narco Cultura, a criminal expert and a famous narcocorrido singer, live completely different lives. The latter wasn’t even born in Mexico and remains far, far away the bloodshed (in his nice Los Angeles suburb) of which he sings about. Narco Cultura is a documentary that perfectly captures that: how different the visions are for people that are still connected somehow through the drug war. Forget that other famous Mexican documentary (Navajazo); Narco Cultura is the real deal and my favorite Mexican film of the year.
For more, read Peter Martin’s review from Fantastic Fest 2013.
The Worst
15. DETRÁS DEL PODER (dir. Javier Colinas)
This was the first Mexican movie I watched in 2014. Just days before going to the press screening of Detrás del Poder I finished watching the first House of Cards season. Since Detrás del Poder is a thriller with a political background, I couldn’t avoid to compare it with the Kevin Spacey starring series. That was unfair, maybe, but still this is not just a poorly acted film (famous actress Paola Nuñez is no femme fatale) but also one with a political story that doesn’t really make much sense. It was a very mediocre way to start the year, but it only got worse.
The Worst
14. I AM HAPINESS ON EARTH (dir. Julián Hernández)
Full disclosure: this was my first experience with a film by renowned auteur Julián Hernández. And I truly respect some Mexican critics who really loved I Am Happiness on Earth (such as Cinema Tradicional’s Alberto Acuña Navarijo). Even Armond White said it was terrific, but personally, I loathed it.
I Am Happiness on Earth is one of the most self-centered films I watched in the entire year. The main reason for that is the long sequence with three actors having sex, which has no connection at all with the main story (it’s supposed to be a movie within the movie as the protagonist is a film director, but said reason wasn’t convincing) and only strikes as a gratuitous act of a provocateur.
The Worst
13. LA LEYENDA DE LAS MOMIAS (dir. Alberto Rodriguez)
One of the top grossing Mexican movies of the year was this 2D animation for kiddies. I just wish the writing was better, the characters more appropriate for children (I couldn’t understand the decision to include a pothead), and that the creators would have respected the series’ main concept. Yes, this is the third entry of a popular series that’s based on famous Mexican legends, but this time they forgot to say a little something about the Guanajuato mummies.
The Worst
12. EDDIE REYNOLDS Y LOS ÁNGELES DE ACERO (dir. Gustavo Moheno)
I watched this one at the Morelia Film Festival and I’m pretty certain it will be a success once it gets theatrical distribution next year. However, it’s an unfunny collection of all the clichés that come with a story about a rock band. The main problem though is its incompetence to create something memorable that relates to rock music, whether original songs or a cool background story for the band. Some jokes and references to bands like The Doors and Led Zeppelin is all this film delivers. Well, there’s also poor acting throughout.
The Worst
11. EL CRIMEN DEL CÁCARO GUMARO (dir. Emilio Portes)
A fine premise done poorly, as Emilio Portes’ parody of artsy cinema and the Mexican industry is not as clever as it thinks it is. Its main attraction, Mexican television comedian Andrés Bustamante, gets lost in a real mess chock-full of juvenile Looney Tunes-inspired gags and not the most inspired pop culture references.
The Worst
10. DARKNESS (dir. Eduardo Villanueva)
Darkness is the perfect example of why Emilio Portes’ El Crimen del Cácaro Gumaro was on paper a much needed parody of the art/festival circuit.
This is one of the many Mexican slow docu-fictions where nothing actually happens that somehow made its way to a renowned film festival (Ambulante in this case). Painfully boring and, most importantly, just an empty experience.
The Worst
9. THE REST OF THE WORLD (dir. Pablo Chavarría Gutiérrez)
Here’s another docu-fiction from the festival circuit (FICUNAM being the festival that sold it as a worthy experience). What makes The Rest of the World worse than Darkness is the fact that its fictional part doesn’t even make sense. It feels completely out of place and ruins a somewhat decent account of the bond between a father and his daughter. I’m not sure why some filmmakers think that throwing in some fictional elements (just because) will make more interesting their work.
The Worst
8. ULISES (dir. Abel Amador Alcalá)
Talk about a boring film that, again, was screened at a festival. I wrote this after watching Ulises at Feratum:
“The first two Mexican films (of the festival), Ulises and Zona Invadida, are different types of bad. Ulises is tedious bad (repetitive and with the worst style for flashbacks I have ever seen), while Zona Invadida was a whole lot of fun. Still very, very bad, but the senseless story of an alien invasion in the Mexican Sierra had its moments of pure hilarity, like seeing old star Mario Almada trying to stop the extraterrestrial.”
Of course, I prefer Z movie type of bad to pretentious stuff like Ulises.
The Worst
7. GET MARRIED IF YOU CAN (dir. Marco Polo Constandse)
Famous Mexican actress Martha Higadera (Amar Te Duele) decided to write a romantic comedy for a Valentine's Day release. The result, Get Married If You Can, works from a very basic premise and uses the rom-com formula to an annoying result. The director Marco Polo Constandse adds nothing to two formulaic subplots that have the protagonists (Higareda and her real-life sister Miri) reaching a happy finale, but not without solving some conflicts before. Mexican cinema couldn't be more mediocre than this, indeed.
The Worst
6. DARKER THAN NIGHT (dir. Henry Bedwell)
A very silly remake that’s extremely far away from the somber original, which was directed by the late Carlos Enrique Taboada in 1975. It betrays the original concept by making the “darker than night” black cat Becker totally unimportant.
I wrote an extensive review of Darker Than Night and you can read it here.
The Worst
5. ESTÁN AQUÍ (dir. Sandra Becerril)
Director Sandra Becerril must have thought that making a movie is a very easy task. You just need some actors, a camera, and a warehouse to film the story of an alien invasion. And while some no-budget films have proven to be good (Leopoldo Laborde’s latest a fine example), others simply lack talent from all fronts; acting, dialog, and the situations in Están Aquí are all ludicrous, and thanks to that some scenes were at least fun to watch.
The Worst
4. MUÑECAS CIEGAS (dir. Christian González)
Christian Gonzalez is actually Mexico's so-called videohome king, and his credits include the underground video classic Ritmo, Traición y Muerte: La Cumbia Asesina (1991).
But a classic his latest effort Muñecas Ciegas is not. The flick is barely watchable, with a solid first part but a second half that makes no sense. It begins with a man who manages to take young girls home, only to literally take their eyes out. This horror story is presented in both sepia and black and white, but later color is introduced as new characters appear, including a couple of lovers and a psychologist. It's a mess of a movie and trying to understand how everything relates is kind of impossible.
The Worst
3. FACHON MODELS (dir. Rafael Montero)
A rip-off in every single way, this comedy is not even about fashion or models as its title suggest. Hell, is not even funny for the wrong reasons, but rather just a forgettable movie with bad acting, formulaic story, and shameless product placement.
The worst part is that it tries to justify the existence of crap movies, by telling the audience that actors need dough and are not always allowed to do their dream projects. I get that, but it doesn’t change at all the fact that Fachon Models is very, very bad.
The Worst
2. DEATH IN ARIZONA (dir. Tin Dardamal)
Tin Dardamal had a very painful experience with a former girlfriend and stayed depressed inside a room for a lot of time. He then started filming the neighbors and used the footage to create the docu-fiction Death in Arizona.
The great majority of Death in Arizona comes from this footage, while the other important elements are two different voice-over narrations (in English). One is done by a man and is about apocalyptic Arizona and the last human tribes. The other narration is by a woman who once heard from a guy, at a train in Arizona, the story that turns to be that of the director himself; how he met and fell in love with a lady in Bolivia, who eventually abandoned him after living together in the aforementioned apartment.
The problem is simple: the combination of sound and image is never meaningful or striking. Sure, it’s personal but also absolutely boring and uninteresting.
The Worst
1. MUROS (dir. Gregorio Rocha)
Screened only at the MICGénero festival, Muros is a film that needs to be seen to be believed. Let my try to explain what Gregorio Rocha’s absolute mess is about. Muros (Walls) begins with footage of the protests that happened in Mexico City back in 2012, after Enrique Peña Nieto was elected as president. How does this relate to the rest of the docu-fiction? I don’t really know.
The main concept of Muros is to explore the walls of the world. There’s, of course, the wall of the US-Mexico border; but it doesn’t always acts in a literal way. Rocha traveled all over the globe gathering footage, while also adding stock material to explore different historical conflicts. Muros touches, for instance, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but it ends being a total anti-Israel rant. Aside of that, there’s the best worst narrator of the year. And the best worst interview ever with a member of the United Nations. If nothing of this makes sense, don’t blame me; blame the director!