‘Our Time’ had a working title of ‘Dónde Nace la Vida’, or ‘Where Life Begins’, which in a sense is more revealing of the underlying themes that run through Carlos Reygadas’ new film: ‘Our Time’.
The writer/director Carlos Reygadas Castillo has been described as a ‘one-man third wave of Mexican Cinema’: An auteur film-maker whose expressionistic and filmic techniques as seen in his previous films have been well received: Battle in Heaven (2005). Silent Light (2007) and Post Tenebras Lux (2012), he has openly acknowledged the profound influence of Andrei Tarkovsky, who awoke his passion for cinema right back in 1987.
The story of ‘Our Time’ unfolds on the stunning Tlaxcalteca altiplano plains of a vast ranch. The protagonist Juan Díaz (played by Carlos Reygadas) is a world-famous poet, who, with his wife Esther (Natalia López) and four children, breeds fighting bulls on a vast open Mexican valley framed by dark mountains.
Life appears idyllic until a new ‘gringo’ horse trainer, Phil (Phil Burgers) is hired, disrupting the apparent tranquillity by having an affair with Esther. Juan and Esther have professed to having an open marriage with both being allowed their romantic dalliances. But this time is not the same, and Juan finds himself spying on Esther, checking her telephone and uncovering lies and secrets. He claims she has broken the unwritten codes of transparency. He becomes ever more obsessive and possessive. While openly encouraging the couple to meet and sleep together, he cannot resist spying on them. He continues to believe in himself and, significantly, gives advice to his son: - “When things don’t go your way, let them flow, they will get back on track and then you’ll regain control.”
Phil Burger and Carlos Reygadas
Esther has been running the logistical elements of the farm, the paper work and childcare (they have four children) and is beginning to feel trapped and controlled. The ‘gringo’ seems to open a door for her to release some of the pent-up frustrations that have been building up over the years despite the apparent loving aspects of their relationship. Juan tempts fate and encourages her to sleep with his friends and the ‘gringo’. Despite his claims, it gnaws at his emotions and feelings of masculinity. Compelled to be voyeuristic, Juan watches her sexual antics with others, and gradually realizes that things are not so simple, and that he can no longer control the situation. Perhaps he hopes that despite ‘knowing’ other men, she will always prefer him. This she has always appeared to do.
Natalia López as Esther
‘Our Time’ is, in many ways, a study of man’s eternal condition in life. Man challenged and feeling he is losing his powers. Reygadas finds ways to touch on love, suffering, pain and death. ‘Our Time’ is beautifully paced and we become more and more entangled in their relationships as we watch. Juan is aware that a yawning gap is opening up between them and he tries to get closer to her through her surrogate lovers. He struggles with an intense sense of loneliness, fully aware he could never feel like his Buddhist friend, Pablo, who despite lying in bed dying of cancer, has a loving partner at his side. Juan is suffering from a deep sense of loss. He has lived an ideal, a dream that was a fallacy. Sometimes there is greater anguish at being unable to love, than loving and losing. “A man [like Pablo] condemned to death but overflowing with love” is an anathema to Juan.
Was Esther converted into a chattel under a different guise? In a striking scene from ‘Post Tenebras Lux’, the protagonist Juan and his wife Natalia visit a swinger’s bathhouse club where he persuades Natalia to let some men have sex with her, so he can watch. This new film is almost an extension of that initial idea. Situations were manipulated and the end game was probably the satisfaction that she would always return. She rightly chastises him: - “I’ve been left out of this all along. You have always pulled the strings.”
Carlos Reygadas
One could ask if there are autobiographical elements and personal fears expressed in this production. Carlos Reygadas wrote, produced and directed the film, as well as playing the lead, with his real-life wife (Natalia López) and two of his real-life children, the charming Rut Reygadas (Leonora) and Eleazar Reygadas (Gaspar).
Children play on a muddy lake.
‘Our Time’ is a film with poetry at its heart. There are significant allegorical symbols thrown into the mix: Powerful fighting bulls express the masculinity of man as they fight among themselves shrouded in the winter mists. Some die. A raging bull eviscerates a mule through raw aggression: is there a message? You try to be too clever, then you can lose. What is real communication and connectivity?
The visuals in this production are truly stunning. The Uruguayan cinematographer, Diego García known for his work on Cemetery of Splendour (2015) and Wildlife (2018), captures the essence of the riveting landscapes in long panoramic takes in which the viewer becomes deeply immersed. The opening scene of children playing in a muddy lake is magically shot. An element of innocence before the entanglements that will turn everything darker. Harsh dry landscapes are washed with rains and grow green and lush. This contrast is also visible in the scenes of animal cruelty, where a bull that appeared part of a controllable herd attacks a mule. Nothing can really be controlled.
Reygadas is not a fan of the formality of 3-act film structures for story-telling. For him the images on screen are closer to a painting where the narrative can emerge in a more unconscious manner, through gentle observation. As he was quoted as saying in an interview: -
“They [the images] are translated, abstracted, and I think in being so, they become universal, something beyond the illustration—which is something that does not interest me. What interests me is that which is seen and heard, that is, in itself, the narrative. I could film grass only and that would be the narrative…. For me, everything that happens in the cinematographic picture has thousands of nuances of expression, everything matters to me and is relevant. But I think this is offset by the ability to directly influence the image with my presence.”
‘Our Time’ (2018) 2 hrs 53 min / NEW WAVE is set to release Our Time (2018) on July 12th 2019.
Nominations & Awards:
‘Our Time’ Premiered at the Venice Film Festival 2018 Italy and has been nominated for numerous awards including ‘Best Picture’ for the Golden Ariel (Mexico), the Golden Lion (Venice), the Coral (Havana), the Horizons Award (San Sebastián, Spain), and the São Paulo International Film Festival, where it won the ‘Best Foreign Film Award’.
Credits:
Writer/producer/ director & protagonist: Carlos Reygadas
Producers: Jaime Romandia/ Carlos Reygadas
DOP: Diego García / Adrian Durazo
Sound: Javier Umpierrez
CAST:
Juan Carlos Reygadas
Esther Natalia López
Phil Phil Burgers
Leonora Rut Reygadas
Gaspar Eleazar Reygadas
Juan hijo Yago Martínez
Blanquita Blanca Villamil
Ernesto Ernesto Vázquez
