Alamar is a film about the bond between a father and son, whose connection transcends distance, language and culture. Jorge lives in Banco Chinchorro, Mexico, while his Natan lives the majority of the year with his mother in Rome. This film documents Natan’s visit at age 5. Yet it is also a film about a remote fishing community that lives in harmony with the sea, living a life few of us could imagine. The film starts off slow, director Gonzalez-Rubio takes his time holding shots for longer than you may expect. This mirrors the pace of life in Banco Chinchorro. When you aren’t fishing, you eat, chat, and enjoy a life unencumbered by technology. There are no smart phones, no TV, no wifi. Instead Jorge and Natan have all the time in the world to connect. As a son of a distant and disconnected father, this film was another in a long line that are tailor made to trigger an emotional response from me. Natan’s tears are my tears, but at a connection I never had. Them bonding with that damn egret made me tear up too! Anyway, if you e read this far and can’t tell yet - I highly recommend you seek this movie out. It is well worth your time, if nothing else but to see a slice of life unlike your own. As Roger Ebert has said, “movies are like machines that generate empathy,” and that’s something we all need in 2020.
Via: DVD from public library
Memorable quote:
Jorge: Me neither, I drink my coffee every night before going to bed
Matraca: Me too, when I'm with my buddies we always have coffee. But we drink it during daytime
Jorge: With the old guys
Matraca: With my buddies, the young guys
Jorge: What do you mean by young guys. Are they your age. If they are your age than that's not young anymore. You have lived many spring times, you're not that young any more
Matraca: Well, I'm still young at heart. I don't feel old...
Jorge: One thing is to feel and another is to be old
Matraca: - like some guys who feel old. Not me. The only thing that's old are the roads... and we're still on them
