Apr 6, 2020
La Cienaga is Masterful
La Cienaga is a beautifully, and meticulously constructed film. Each facet, each scene reflects the entirety of the film. It begins as the sound of crickets fades in over the opening credits, followed by rolling thunder. The first visual is a brief moment of tree tops under an overcast sky. Cut to a pile of red, bell, peppers laid out on a tray. We hear a single gunshot in the distance. Back to a few more credits and then a very tight shot of assorted glasses and wine bottles. A hand from out of frame pours a brilliantly saturated red wine in to one of the glasses. The gesture is sloppy and clumsy. The hand plops a few hunks of ice in to the glass. The glass is raised into the air where it is wiggled until the ice cubes tinkle with a treble that matches the crickets. Then several brief shots of people in bathing suits lounging by a green swimming pool, followed by a wonderful brief montage of these middle aged sunbathers dragging their metal chairs across the pavement. The scraping noise fills the soundscape as we watch their bodies pass before us. The camera stays close so all we see is the midsection of each person as they trail their chairs across the screen. Its a carefully, cleverly orchestrated display of sound, color and movement.
