Morir en San Hilario

After a bloody confrontation between cops and robbers, one of the bank robbers manages to escape with the loot. He ends up in the small town San Hilario. Literary a dot on the map in the middle of nowhere. The villagers of this small community, that once thrived on the burial of people, see him as a man that contracted them to bury him there. This grave misunderstanding creates a funny interaction between the criminal, unaware of his own funeral, and the citizens pushing him to find out what he wants for the funeral.

Our story's protagonist sees his own life in retrospective because he has the unique opportunity to witness his own funeral. That position gives him some funny insights on life and death and the meaning of it all. Insights that he starts to share with others as the movie is progressing towards the end.

I really like the wacky villagers. They all have a life that has one purpose: taking care of the death. That weird aspect of their lives made them into the eccentric people they are. The priest has lost his faith in God; the tailor falls passionately in love with dying men in the town; the artist has a fond admiration for a woman but lacks the courage to even talk to her; a crippled boy doesn't believe that a girl will like him because of his handicap. These flawed people are hilarious, without being caricatures of themselves.

I'd give this movie an 8. While it is simple and perhaps predictable at times, it did move me with its gentle touch and its nice characters.