Canoa: A Shameful Memory

This Film takes no concessions, it is certainly one of the most powerful films in cinematographic language, I've ever seen.

Felipe Cazals has done an extraordinary job, previously to Canoa, he did a great documentary about the feelings of the mexicans regarding the foreigners but especially those who were involved in the Mexican life in one way or another.

Cazals maybe tried to input that same kind of documentary-style to Canoa which makes the film more special since it doesn't follow the traditional standards on editing and screenplay.

Highly recommended film that is not for those of weak guts, it has some violent scenes but it don't fall onto morbid stuff.

Also, I highly recommend Felipe Cazals' films (except those of Rigo Tovar ones). it is certainly one of the greatest mexican filmmakers ever.

Reading so much praise to this movie makes me feel that I'm in the late 60's or the early 70's again. Director Cazals has done some good movies, but no master piece at all. So Canoa's not what many of you say it is.

First of all, remember that this picture was produced by Conacine, with money from the Government. It was not censored. Never. And tough it has some brilliant achievements (like Salvador Sanchez' as the narrator), the true is that the Mexican government used some historical events in a very tricky way to present the army as the savior of the remaining students that were not killed by the mob. Of course the catholic priest that appears in the movie is hateful, despite the wonderful job of actor Enrique Lucero. But the movie's big point was to distract people from the social reality that politically speaking was very explosive at that time. So the soldiers make the good ones, when the people was hurt by the recent genocide in Tlaltelolco's ground. And Cazals knew it all the time. Not a bad movie, but you have to consider this, as it is presented as "a part of history", but it has other sides to it.

This movie is based in a real life story in which a group of students and university workers go on holiday and finish in a small town (Canoa) in the Mexican countryside. They look for a place to spend the night without being aware of what his happening around them until it is too late.

The political climate is volatile: Mexico, 1968, leftist students have been protesting all around the country and the local priest is a megalomaniac afraid to loose his little power and completely paranoid about communism.

What follows is the mob taking over under the directions of the local priest, with funest consequences for the unfortunate students.

Very explicit violence, Disturbing scenes.

Highly recommended.

This is a very hard hitting examination of mob violence and, in my opinion, the best study of a corrupt small town ever put on celluloid. In the perceptive, emotionally wrenching hands of director Felipe Cazals the poor, prejudiced, ignorant, hostile, theocratic village of Canoa makes the town in "Fury", as well as the desert hamlet of Black Rock, look like gated communities in comparison. Particularly in the film's second half, as a Carmelite sister blares anti communist propaganda into a loudspeaker and a very ugly crowd starts to form and an awareness among the five victims of their danger grows, the viewer begins to feel as scared and helpless as they. And the orgy of murder and torture that results is as realistic a look at the effects of crowd hysteria as I have seen on the screen.

After stating the above, any criticisms I may have would be on the captious side. Still, I would have liked the first half to move at a more rapid clip with fewer scenes of the five university workers hanging out together and joking. One such scene would have made the point that these young people are innocents being led to the slaughter. Also, I found the talking head/interview device both intrusive and un necessary, especially the last head, a cynical peasant who I'm sure Cazals intended to be an effective counter weight to the unenlightened citizens of Canoa but who comes across, to me at least, as more of a wise ass, know it all. A minus.

PS...To Alicia Malone: Can we please have more great films from Mexico on TCM Imports? I cannot recall when the last one before this was shown.

This film is part of the beginning of the New Mexican Cinema, based in a true story and made like an example of the uncertain time in Mexico after 1968 and how can be influenced a entire town against a group of people whom their only sin was; be a student.