Director: Juan Ballesteros
Writer: Juan Ballesteros
Cast: Mercedes López & Oriana Rodríguez
Running time: 19mins
Running a film festival is costly – and it often means that organisations struggle to break even. With submission fees the only source of revenue that many festivals can rely on, that can make granting waivers difficult. A sad result of this is that filmmakers who already struggle to have their voices heard end up even further marginalised.
Stories told by artists from low-income backgrounds, opposition groups hit by censorship, or individuals in nations subjected to international sanctions still need a platform. That’s why Indy Film Library’s Saturday Matinees series has returned for a fourth season.
Over the current run of matinees, IFL will showcase work from places where monetary and legal constraints have prevented the free communication of political and social issues.
The third film in our free-to-view programme comes from Juan Ballesteros, a filmmaker based in Mérida, Venezuela. El Reflejo de las Grullas [The Reflection of the Cranes] is an LGBT+ romantic drama, following two women struggling to overcome past betrayals, and learn to connect with each other again.
Lucía (Mercedes López) is a hotelier in a remote spot which is popular with tourists. Ballesteros’ script does little to deliver her a definitive past, so much of the storytelling around her character relies on the performance of López. Fortunately, she produces a beautifully nuanced turn – initially as a retiring and overtly cautious person, almost flinching at any sign of friendliness, before gradually growing into herself, and regaining her confidence.
Many of López’s early responses speak to a woman who has been hurt, emotionally or physically, in her earlier life – and has become withdrawn and defensive to avoid it happening again. Now in her mid-40s, she finds herself marooned in her hotel, starved of affection. And when a hint of it finally comes her way, by way of Amelia (Oriana Rodríguez), her initial response is to chase it off.
But while Amelia is outwardly much sunnier, Rodríguez’s accomplished performance also gradually suggests to us that she may be struggling with trauma of their own. As we gradually learn that there may be more similarities between them than we first guessed, Ballesteros’ script sees them steadily drawn together. In the process, they make peace with issues around body image, identity and intimacy – before the film’s bitter-sweet conclusion, which has shades of Lost in Translation, in leaving us to fill in the blanks of an evocative emotional climax.
All this is underlined by some fantastic technical work. The gradually warming colour palette and brightening images of Juan Silva‘s cinematography help to quietly support our perception of two women gradually coming to life again. Meanwhile, Laura Gil Diaz‘s gorgeous soundtrack might be understated, but it does a lot of heavy-lifting in such a minimalistic script. Her music gently sweeps us from moments of ecstasy to quiet desolation, and back again – helping the film to build to an emotional crescendo of a whole new height and majesty.
All in all, El Reflejo de las Grullas is a short, light-touch narrative, which still manages to touch on important dialogues around mental health, sexuality and ideological perceptions of the female body. While it might feel ever so slightly rushed in terms of pacing – and could have found a little more room to show the changing relationship of its two characters, possibly over a longer run-time – it is still a touching piece of cinema, which should bring everyone involved a great deal of pride.
The film will be available to view for free in full from 09:00 UK time on Saturday the 27th of January, until the end of the weekend, via our Saturday Matinees theatre page. Viewers will also be invited to rate the film out of five, to help determine the winner of this Saturday Matinees season.
As the film is still trying to gain access to other festivals, the page is password protected. Use the code IFLMATINEE2324 to access the film.
Stay tuned for another film next week!