I haven’t seen any of Amat Escalante‘s films, but tonight at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival I will be introduced to the director’s third solo feature film, Heli. The film is playing In Competition.
Made up almost exclusively of newcomers, the story centers on Estela (Andrea Vergara), a 12 year old girl who has just fallen crazy in love with a young police cadet (Juan Eduardo Palacios) who wants to run away with her and get married. Trying to achieve this dream, her family will have to live the violence that is devastating the region.
Yes, the age of Estela sounds a little weird to me too, but after watching the clips below it’s clear the young cadet in question isn’t exactly a twenty-something. For more on that Escalante adds:
This region is very religious. During the shoot, we had to stop for four days because the Pope was visiting the city. The religious aspect is very present in the film. Here, abortion is banned and severely punished. That’s why lots of very young girls — like the heroine in my film — become mothers when barely teenagers. To give you an idea, the real mother of the infant in the film was on set, and she’s only 14. Recently, seven girls who had accidental abortions were sent to prison. With Heli, I wanted to show how families live on top of one another under the same roof. The notion of community is very strong, as is the absence of intimacy. I, myself live next to most of my family. That’s common in Mexico.
Additionally, reading through an interview with Escalante in the press notes one question refers to what the interviewer describes as an “unbearable torture sequence.” Great, can’t wait for that. Of course, there is always a difference in displays of human suffering within a social context as opposed to what we get in gratuitous horror films such as the recently released and despicable Aftershock.
Check out the two clips below and you can browse some pictures from the film right here. I’ll be back soon enough with my review of the film.
