[Film Review] Identifying Features (2020) and La Llorona (2019)

Two Ibero-American pictures stoutheartedly exploring the horrific acts either in the past or at present with a magical touch. IDENTIFYING FEATURES is a Mexican-Spanish coproduction, director Fernanda Valadez’s feature debut, it follows a Mexican mother’s quest of looking for her son, who is presumably slaughtered when trying to cross the border to the States, and LA LLORONA, emergent Guatemalan filmmaker Jayro Bustamante’s third feature, lends itself to the proverbial titular folklore aka. “the weeping woman”, and engineers a claustrophobic revenge fantasy leveling against the country’s brutal enormities of ethnic decimation in the ‘80s.

In IDENTIFYING FEATURES, Magdalena (Hernández), a single mother from Guanajuato, embarks on a distressing journey across Mexico to certify the fate of her missing son Jesús (Varela). And following the breadcrumb trail proffered by ordinary empathetic folks, she must reconcile herself with bereavement and on the way, she fortuitously finds a surrogate son in Miguel (Illescas), a young Mexican who is recently deported from the States and couldn’t locate the whereabouts of his immediate family. But Valadez doesn’t aim for a heart-warming fable celebrating human bond, there is no patina to sugar-coat the borderline rampant barbarity, aligning Magdalena’s mental process with her extraordinary acumen of the country’s rural landscape, the film brandishesa preternatural flex of devilry in handling the excruciatingly disturbing events, a bonfire of distorting images ablaze in the night, devil materializes in a stunningly shadowy form.

Valadez proves herself that she has snap in her formulation, yet IDENTIFYING FEATURES is hindered by a far-fetched coda, designed to shock and awe (there is no logic to connect the actions), but it doesn’t sit well with the film’s precedent tonality and in particular, Magdalena’s fortitude, whom Hernández consistently portrays with profuse sympathy to spare. In the end, Magdalena’s effort feels squandered, if evil can simply crop up apropos of nothing, the weight of her journey is dissipated since hitherto locality has been the kernel of Valadez’s construct, the disjuncture between style and form is a common contretemps for a new director, it leaves a bathetic feeling, nonetheless, we should still give a shout-out to Valadez for making a statement on her own terms.

Bustamante, on the other hand, might not merit such acknowledgement, not least this films is eclipsed by IXCANUL (2015), his debut feature that shows high hopes of his artistry. LA LLORONA, which is largely confined in the manse of the elderly General Enrique Monteverde (Diaz), who is in trail for genocide of Mayan-Ixil people, is stagnated and burdened by the melodramatic tropes, its dialogue feels like written by school-grade pupils, and most characters are too reactive to do anything about their entrapment, their characterization never packs a punch. Only the intermittent horror elements creep on you with some visual potency, and Bustamante's sleek zooming-out technique bears out his sleight of hand. Also stands out is the presence of María Mercedes Coroy, the young indigenous heroine in IXCANUL, here she plays Alma, the new maid of obscure provenance, whose appearance startles Enrique and slowly renders him addlepated. Alma is an enigmatic entity, and Coroy shows that she has a mission to achieve but emotionally she is null, her Llorona is not scary, not even threatening, revenge is a dish better served cold, so she is plumb gelid, and so will be the guilty one.

If IDENTIFYING FEATURES has a circuitous way to impart you the very existence of evil, LA LLORONA is blunter and more righteous on that matter. Enrique is unrepentant, his wife Carmen (Kenéfic) is a racist harpy, their daughter Natalia (De La Hoz) seems to have a ghost of conscience, but her inaction fails to reveal that. When the standoff is elongated, the family unit’s struggle palls, it is the furor outside that captivates you, like the Monteverdes, you also feel trapped, but you want to go out while they cannot be arsed to do so.

That said, the final solution is arranged with some flair, lost souls are conjured up, the executioner is well chosen, Carmen is given a dose of her own medicine, so she experiences a vicarious trance of what her husband's Mayan victim has suffered, one culprit kicks the bucket but the reckoning continues. LA LLORONA is a self-congratulatory victory, it cannot hide the fact that, justice prevails by dint of a supernatural being, doesn't that sound depressing?

referential entries: Bustamante’s IXCANUL (2015, 7.5/10); Carlos Reygadas’ JAPÓN (2002, 7.2/10).

English Title: Identifying Features

Original Title: Sin señas particulares

Year: 2020

Country: Mexico, Spain

Language: Spanish, English, North American Indian

Genre: Drama

Director: Fernanda Valadez

Screenwriter: Fernanda Valadez, Astrid Rondero

Music: Clarice Jensen

Cinematography: Claudia Becerril Bulos

Editing: Susan Korda, Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valadez

Cast:

Mercedes Hernández

David Illescas

Ana Laura Rodríguez

Juan Jesús Varela

Laura Elena Ibarra

Xicoténcatl Ulloa

Armando García

Manuel Campos

Rating: 7.3/10

Title: La Llorona

Year: 2019

Country: Guatemala, France

Language: Spanish, Maya

Genre: Crime, Drama, Horror

Director: Jayro Bustamante

Screenwriters: Jayro Bustamante, Lisandro Sanchez

Music: Pascual Reyes

Cinematography: Nicolás Wong

Editing: Jayro Bustamante, Gustavo Matheu

Cast:

Margarita Kenéfic

Sabrina De La Hoz

Julio Diaz

María Mercedes Coroy

María Telón

Juan Pablo Olyslager

Ayla-Elea Hurtado

Marvin Coroy

Enrique Argüello

Rating: 6.7/10