Like producer-director Tatiana Huezo’s previous film Prayers for the Stolen, The Echo (El eco) is the story of three teenagers. Here, she observes the life of the El Eco community without apparent intervention, then presents it to us with meticulous editing. As in The Tiniest Place, this is a small rural community. But unlike any of the director’s previous works, there is no physical violence or even talk about it. Huezo seems to have grown tired of such harshness and she wants to explore a more nonviolent life. Fortunately, both in war and in peace, she has an excellent eye for portraying everyday life and the sensibility to get up close, without making regular people look like actors.
In the first scene of the documentary, we see how a young woman, Luz Ma, recovers a lost sheep from of a stream. In the next one, another teenager, Montse, helps her mother bathe her grandmother. The mother tells the girl that this will be her duty, and she complies with care and devotion. El Eco is only 400 kilometers away from Mexico City, but it could be on another continent because of the way life is lived there. Its inhabitants have no electricity or running water; they eke out a living on agriculture, sheep herding, and forestry.
Do not feel sorry for these kids who are the embodiment of resilience itself. Besides helping with the housework, they labor in the fields, ride bareback, and take care of the animals on their property. In addition to that, they go to school where they study and serve as tutors for the youngest students. They seem to be better equipped for life than their urban counterparts, with their ubiquitous cell phones and crystal egos. The way they care for elderly Maria de los Ángeles – she must be close to 100 years old – is touching. I have never seen a teenager show such infinite patience with her grandmother, talking to her and stroking her head while she reassures her that she is not a useless person.
This pastoral story is disrupted by two common problems present in many countries: clandestine logging and drought. Although there are times when the rural life seems idyllic, reality crashes into the calm when a child around four asks, “What will we do if it doesn’t rain? Will we die like the sheep?”
Ernesto Pardo’s photography is splendid, and some shots of chiaroscuro illuminating the children’s faces are worth framing. There are scenes so beautiful that they seem staged on purpose, while some shots seem redundant, as if the director could not resist so much beauty.
Within the macho customs –“men don’t do dishes” says Luz’s father – in the community of El Eco there is a budding feminist movement that even its inhabitants are unaware of. A wife literally asks for an exchange of roles. Even if they don’t know the word for it, there is sorority which would cause envy even in big cities. In difficult moments – someone being hit by a ball in a soccer game, being disappointed, feeling insecure – there is always a good supportive girlfriend, one who even offers to take revenge. Who could ask for anything more?
Director, screenwriter: Tatiana Huezo
Cast: Montserrat Hernández Hernández, María de los Ángeles Pacheco Tapia, Luz María Vázquez González, Sarahí Rojas Hernández, William Antonio Vázquez González
Producers: Tatiana Huezo, Dalia Reyes
Cinematography: Ernesto Pardo
Editing: Lucrecia Gutiérrez (AMEE), Tatiana Huezo
Music: Leonardo Heiblum, Jacobo Lieberman
Production company: Radiola Films (Mexico); The Match Factory (Germany); ZDF Zweite Deutsches Fersehen (Germany)
Sales: The Match Factory
Venue: Berlin Film Festival (Encounters)
In Spanish
102 minutes
