Güeros
2014 · Directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios
Original language: Spanish
- drama
- comedy
The story
Set amidst the 1999 student strikes in Mexico City, this coming-of-age tale finds two brothers venturing through the city in a sentimental search for an aging legendary musician. Shot in black-and-white, Güeros brims with youthful exuberance.
What it’s like
Crisp high-contrast black-and-white, with handheld camera that follows two young men on foot and by bus through the sprawl and smog of Mexico City, its markets, bus stops, and crowded plazas full of protest banners and graffiti. The rhythm is loose and rambling, built from long walking scenes, deadpan exchanges, and sudden bursts of energy, with a score of folk and rock songs that carries the nostalgia. The vibe is scruffy, wry, and warm, somewhere between a road movie and a shaggy comedy, suited to a lazy afternoon or a late evening when you want to wander with company. Its people are restless, sometimes foolish brothers slowly learning to see each other and the city more clearly. The intensity is low: some scuffles and police tension during the strike, plenty of profanity, casual drinking and frank talk about sex, but no real gore and little sustained violence. It suits viewers who enjoy character-driven, dialogue-heavy films with a political undercurrent and a bittersweet, good-humoured sweetness.
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