The Echo (12A)
Directed by Tatiana Huezo

 
FILM-MAKER Tatiana Huezo returns to her documentary roots as she focuses her lens on the remote Mexican village of El Eco which seems to exist outside of time. She provides a fascinating look into the harsh yet rewarding life there as seen through the eyes of its children. 

It follows three families and several youngsters over the course of a year, exploring childhood in rural Mexico in a haunting yet compelling fly-on-the-wall documentary.

Without interviews, voiceovers or any explanations Huezo paints an intimate portrait of rural life and the pressures and responsibilities kids face, taking care of the land, the animals and their elderly relatives.

This is challenging for viewers, and it is difficult at times to keep up with who everyone is and how they are related with such minimal information. 

The film opens with Montserrat, known as Monse, helping to bath her frail elderly grandmother. Her mum tells her to wash her as if she were bathing a baby, which seems a little condescending.

Monse’s gran was one of the first people to live in El Eco, although she cannot remember why it has the name. 

Then there is Luz Ma, whose mother in a candid moment advises her daughter not to settle down at a young age like she did and to wait until she has finished school and explored all her options outside El Eco. 

It is a very matriarchal society until the patriarchs return to the homestead and try to take charge. In the case of Luz Ma’s father, when he sees his young son collecting his dinner plate and cup to go and wash up he stops him, stating that men do not wash plates as that is what women are for. 

With El Eco’s stunning landscapes and vistas, Huezo takes you on an immersive trip both visually and acoustically as she plunges you into these people’s world, showing you the extraordinary in the ordinary. Youngsters, dealing with privation and death, who are forced to grow up too quickly but who still can find moments of joy. 

This is a powerful and uplifting documentary which provides an alternative perspective of Mexican life. 

In cinemas July 26.