I just want to find my son
Continuing my trip up The Guardian's Top 50 Films of 2021
#23 : Sin Señas Particulares (Identifying Features)
First-time director Fernanda Valadez conjures up a vision of real evil in her story of the horror and heartbreak faced by migrants into the US in Mexico’s borderlands.
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Well, this sounds like it's going to be a giggle, doesn't it? I'm expecting some well filmed grimness which educates rather than entertains, but let's see...
Hmmm - not sure I needed the pictures of eye surgery in the first five minutes (and for no obvious reason, either!). The first ten minutes suggests we're in for a slow burn of a film - I'm going to be quite surprised if there's actually any outcome to the film. We're following a woman trying to find her son who may, or may not, have made it to, or across, the border from Mexico to the US - the only positive result possible is a postcard from the promised land, but we all know how likely that is. As time went on, I grew more to expect the evil of banality (or the banality of evil) as opposed to any real evil - the frustration of trying to know the unknown/unknowable. And, well, yes, that's pretty much what happens. I'd tell you more, but to be honest that would need more to have happened.
The problem with a film about the banality of evil is that you may just end up with a film about banality. And that's almost the case here, but the film does have more progress and moral dilemmas than I'd expect - probably more than thousands of such cases generally do in real life. However, I was still left feeling that it tried to bring the story home, but everything was over-dramatised - at least it gave the film some story I guess. But, whilst it may bring home some points to help me appreciate the story and the frustration involved, I didn't think it made a great film (mostly because it didn't) - there was a germ of a good plot in there but, for me, the writers didn't bring it out. And they certainly didn't land it - the end just left me cold.
However, despite my reservations about the film, it is a well directed film - the acting is good, the scenery is good and the camera work is good, so Fernanda Valadez is one to watch out for. I've no idea of Fernanda's gender but there's a female gaze to the film - and Wikipedia confirms she's a 41 year old Mexican who I feel someone should give a bit more money to make her next film. The film has some lovely scenery and some lovely shots, although some of the locations are totally "they can't have been allowed to film THERE" so they do make you wonder where they filmed them. It also has surprisingly good use of sound - mostly to confuse but sometimes just to convey the sense of the surroundings, which it does well.
I'd struggle to say that any of the people involved feel like actual actors but Mercedes Hernandez does a good job as the main character - but Wikipedia doesn't suggest she's an actual actor. Or anyone else. One final point which I've no real clue about - interestingly, the original title in Spanish is "No Identifying Features" so I'm intrigued as to why the U-turn was made in translation.
So, it's a good film which isn't really all that good - does that make any sense? As a final year degree project, you'd be amazed by it - but as a film you went to the cinema and paid money to go and see, you might be disappointed. However, there's no way it's the worst film on the list so far - it just feels like it could have been better. Another point I'd make which is entirely unfair is that I don't like long drawn out confusing films with subtitles - if you're going to make me read the film, then please try to keep me engaged. And if really didn't help that my copy lost its subtitles at a critical stage as well!
So, to sum up - should you watch this? Well, no - probably not. It's a good looking film but that's all there is to it. At the time of writing, this film isn't available anywhere so you'll have to look for it if you're desperate to do so, but after this description that seems unlikely.
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