Review of Battle in Heaven (2005) by Samuel H — 18 Jun 2008
'Battle In Heaven' is pure Mexican cinema and while at the same time being totally unspecific in the story it tells. The moral dilemmas, and indeed religious dilemmas, that face the characters coudl be told anywhere. But its telling, in its characters and the images that Carlos Reygadas composes, particularly in the film's stark and unexpected conclusion.
The film is confronting. More so in its violence than the sexually explicit material. The confrontation is most raw as Reygadas realises what we are capable to doing to each other with his characters fated by the world around them rather than a good or evil within themselves.
Reygadas, along with his cinematographer Diego MartÃnez Vignatti, find beauty in the sublime, a human richness in contrast to the poverty of Mexico which the film refuses to hide or glorify as in many 'border' dramas that emerge from the US.
This review of Battle in Heaven (2005) was written by Samuel H on 18 Jun 2008.
Battle in Heaven has generally received mixed reviews.
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