"Patria" ("Fatherland") is a book trilogy written by the famously outspoken Mexican writer Paco Ignacio Taibo II about this country's history during the crucial period between 1854 and 1867 when Mexico, as a relatively new independent country, faced some of its largest external and internal conflicts. This documentary, hosted by Taibo himself, is a visual companion to the books, where he visits some of the actual locations where Mexican history changed course.
Taibo is a generally charismatic and sometimes controversial personality in modern Mexico, which works to keep the documentary from becoming too dry as the majority of it consists of him on-location speaking directly to the audience. The book trilogy deals heavily with how the historical period had such major consequences that they still impact and shape the current state of the nation, but in the documentary this is only mentioned in passing.
Onscreen, Taibo focuses almost exclusively on the historical facts and events without making the strong connections to the present that have given the books their fame. Overall, while this is a good explanation (if not introduction) to a watershed moment of Mexican history, it still pales as a comparison to the work that originated it, functioning exclusively as a companion piece rather than a standalone.
