Rural traditions and modern life clash in Alejandro Fernández Almendras's engaging feature debut, Huacho. Chronicling the life of a hard-working peasant family – grandparents Clemira (Clemira Aguayo) and Cornelio (Cornelio Villagrán), their daughter Alejandra (Alejandra Yáñez) and her pre-teen son, Manuel (Manuel Hernández) – Almendras paints an evocative picture of the many hardships experienced by millions of rural Chileans.
An apt title for the film, huacho means “bastard” or “having no father” but can also mean “abandoned.” The family members are left behind by a modern way of life that does not include them. Faced with problems like electrical shortages, low wages and discrimination, they work hard just to stay afloat. Rather than intertwine the narratives, Almendras follows the characters one by one throughout their day, showing us the adversity each faces.
Clemira makes and sells cheese by the roadside to passing city dwellers. The cheese sellers attempt to raise their prices because the price of milk has gone up, but their drive-by clients simply scoff at them. Clemira's husband, Cornelio, is getting too old to work the fields. Alejandra is forced to return her only pretty dress to a department store in the city to pay the electrical bill. Manuel is derided by his schoolmates and told to “go and take care of the cows” when he wants to join in their fun. Still, Almendras's characters take these challenging realities in stride and are never cast as pitiful. If anything, it's their resolve that pulls on the heartstrings, as when the resourceful Manuel prints out a flimsy sign promoting his grandmother's business on computers donated to his school by Bill Gates.
Following in the tradition of much of the recent neo-realist cinema from Latin America by directors like Lisandro Alonso and Adrián Caetano, Almendras offers an original and affecting quasi-documentary look at these lives, never falling into sentimentality. The humanity and respect he affords his characters is evident throughout the film, and he gives a voice to so many of those who keep old traditions alive.
Diana Sanchez
Alejandro Fernández Almendras was born in Chillán, Chile, and studied social communications and journalism at Universidad de Chile. He has directed several short films, including
La Ofrenda (03),
Desde Lejos (06) and
Lo Que Trae la Lluvia (07).
Huacho (09) is his first feature film.