Battle in Heaven (DVD)

Battle in Heaven caused quite a stir in its release last year not only for its explicit sexual content but for its polarizing reaction from critics. Perhaps polarizing isn't the right word since so many critics trashed the damn thing. I went into the film hoping to be a champion for the cause. But no such luck.

The best thing that can be said about Carlos Reygadas' Battle in Heaven is that it starts out with a beautiful girl giving a blowjob. Okay, that's not the only thing. It also has one of the single greatest landscape shots I've ever seen. The actors give honest performances, and there is at least one truly great scene where a would-be moment of seduction becomes a devastating confessional in the blink of an eye and you can almost feel the Earth crashing.

So what's it all about? Our protagonist, Marcos chauffeurs a Mexican general's daughter, Ana, around. He has done this all her life it seems. He knows all of her secrets, including the fact that she lives a secret life in a brothel. Marcos decides to make a horrible confession: he kidnapped an infant for ransom and now the baby is dead. She tells him to go to the police to turn himself in. She sleeps with him. They form a connection. He may or may not be in love with her while she certainly is not in love with him. Marcos seeks redemption for the rest of the film.

Not exactly the Friday night rental. But there is a wonderful authenticity to Reygadas's films. The artist of the existential Japon (a strange but more far more penetrating movie) is still present but the effect is not so hypnotizing this time around. His films are the kind where there doesn't really seem to be a set designer, the locations are what Reygadas could find or steal. There is nothing Hollywood about his efforts. Reygadas doesn't cast actors, he casts people and directs them in a Robert Bresson fashion, keeping his hero enigmatic, non-emotional, a complete vacancy. Reygadas himself admits in an interview included on the disc that he has no interest in an actor's interpretation.

Sometimes his maverick filmmaking is too real for its own good (more than a few times you can see bystanders staring at the camera, something tells me they didn't sign any releases either). He is first and foremost, an art-house director and his films require patience and an audience willing to accept a challenge.

And contrary to some attacks, Battle in Heaven is not a piece of pornography. Yes, the film contains explicit depictions of sexual acts, but pornography is about fantasy and everything here is grounded in reality. No matter how amazingly beautiful Anapola Mushkadiz (as Ama) is- and Good Lord's Gravy she is beautiful- I was more interested in what her sexual act meant in the film's context. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

Now there is at least one technically interesting shot that begins with Marcos and Ana having sex, leaving an apartment to the sights and sounds of the neighboring urban grounds of Mexico City and then back again to Marcos and Ana who have just finished up. On paper this shot could have been masterful, another wave in the film's aspiring potpourri of class, culture, religion, sex, crime and loneliness. The problem is the film is so emotionally distant and uninteresting in its writing that there is no way for an audience to connect with the material. Shots that could have been powerful end up boring and pedantic and in some cases, amateurish.

I respect Reygadas for his artistic integrity, which is evident in his engaging interview that is included on the DVD (actress Anapola Mushkadiz is also on hand). But Battle in Heaven is a clear miss. If you're looking for good artsy Mexican cinema, check out Reygadas's first effort, Japon (this disc even contains sample excerpts of that film for you). Even better, check out the brilliant Y Tu Mama Tambien, which manages to be both sexy and honest. Double-decker it with Amores Perros and you're in Mexican cinema heaven.