Nadie sabrá nunca

Lucía and her husband Rigoberto live in Zoquizoquipan, a small town in the Mexican state of Hidalgo. They are not at the bottom of the ladder; they own a piece of land, a horse, some heads of cattle and a modest house with some amenities. They even own a molino that they rent to neighbors (the molino is used to ground nixtamal, large white corn treated with lime, into a paste used to make tortillas). They have two children, Braulio and Teresa. Braulio is at the end of his primary school cycle in the village one-teacher school and Teresa is a few years younger. Braulio has no educational future since there is no secondary school in the village.

The time is that of populist president José López Portillo. He was elected in 1976 and there were hopes and projects for the economy, among them a strong expansion of the national oil industry. This propelled economic growth and provided job opportunities for a while, but, as oil prices fell, the boom fizzled and gave way to a severe debt crisis in the early eighties.

Lucía's sisters have moved to Mexico City where they are riding the tail end of the boom with some success. Lucía dreams of joining them, improving and completing her children's education and finding some space for herself, but Rigoberto will not hear of it, Meanwhile, Lucía feels boxed in and neglected and escapes into the black-and-white world of TV soap operas, while Braulio does the same with westerns (we see a sample of a 1970 musical western that was very popular in Mexico at the time).

Out of this simple tale, director, scriptwriter and cinematographer Jesús Torres Torres has assembled a fascinating film partly based on his own experiences (he grew up in Zoquizoquipan). Some of his actors were also raised in rural communities, which lends authenticity to their work. An important component is the Spanish spoken in this movie, colorful, musical and full of witty colloquial terms. Acting and cinematography are excellent and combine into a quality movie.