Corazón del Tiempo ****

(Heart of Time)

Director: Alberto Cortés

Year: 2009

Writers: Hernann Bellinghaussen, Alberto Cortés

Cinematographer: Marc Bellver

A really nice little film set in the region of southern mexico where the Zapatistas are fighting for their right to live off-the-grid. They don't want to either use the resources of Mexico nor pay taxes for them. They want to live life separate from what they see as a corrupt system, and they have a kind of socialist paradise though they don't necessarily want to live like Amish. They don't reject technology, they reject the government of Mexico.

Therefore they are constantly pressured by the mexican military and treated as a terrorist group although they avoid violent tactics, preferring peaceful means to maintain a separate existence.

Therefore it is highly interesting to see if this kind of socialist village can actually function, and the drama of this story is focused on just that, how the village struggles to maintain its freedom from external threats, and also how it deals with internal cultural conflicts.

The internal cultural conflict here is a young girl who decides she doesn't want to marry the boy who has paid a cow in order to be engaged to her. Instead she falls in love with one of the group's soldiers who patrol the jungle, keeping an eye out for potential attacks coming from Mexican Police/Military and other political groups.

The conflict never rises very high, because this group of traditional farmers is quite liberal and open minded, eventually allowing the girl to make her own decision, and resolving their internal cultural conflict with level heads.

Its a beautiful film because we see something incredible, a human organization that operates as we all dream and aspire towards. Its shocking just to see a society actually work.

The directing here is subtle but actually very good, working with the native people as actors requires a very sensitive touch, and though the acting isn't stellar, they really do portray themselves in an extremely honest and real way.

See it!