Where Time Stands Still

TravelTalks goes to rural Guatemala to visit a tribe of "primitive" local native Indians. These are really just farmers and fishermen. FitzPatrick is condescending as always but that's a sign of the times. It is interesting to see some real local flavors. As often is the case, one must listen to the narration with some care but the pictures are what's important.

James A. Fitzpatrick sends the Technicolor cameras down to Guatemala to shoot pictures of the Indian villages around Lake Atelán: their agriculture, their markets, their industry, which seems to consist of weaving and dying. It's the usual combination of almanac facts, and Fitpatrick makes a big deal over the cultural conservatism of people who have lived wedged between semi-active volcanoes and the sea for centuries.

Go figure. The copy of this movie that plays on Turner Classic Movies is in very good shape. The slight degradation in the image makes it look like a fine painting.

A huge amount of entries in the Traveltalks series spent time in various South and Central American countries, probably because US audiences wanted to see how people in this closeby (but often forgotten) region live. This one takes us to an area of Guatemala, a country that's been featured before, but focuses more on the people living there as opposed to landscapes or architecture and customs introduced by Spanish colonists. There is one important landmark on the shore of a large lake: the volcano San Pedro, which is part of the Sierra Madre mountain range. The Native American inhabitants of guatemala fashion elaborate fabrics and dye them with different plants and berries. We're told that each clan of Indians has a corresponding pattern of fabric that they wear, and no two are alike. Women go down to the lake to collect large amounts of water in jugs, which they then balance on their heads and bring back to their settlements. As Fitzpatrick says, time doesn't stop for anything, but it seems to get nowhere in a place such as this. People carry heavy loads to and from marketplaces throughout the country, just as their ancestors did for many centuries. Somewhat disturbingly, babies here have their faces covered with similar fabric, which is probably to protect from various insects but their customs say it's to protect from European colonizers. Probably the most interesting thing in the short is at the end, and goes over how marriages are arranged around this place. After a girl reciprocates the feelings a man has for her, all the guy needs to do is leave a bundle of wood outside the girl's hut of residence. If his future father-in-law takes the wood inside, it means he has permission to marry his daughter. If he doesn't take the wood, it's no deal. And so, life (and love) go on in this quaint corner of planet Earth. Like most other Traveltalks, there isn't a lot to comment on with this, other than how the way Fitzpatrick kind of patronizingly talks about the old fashioned ways the inhabitants of the country go about their business. It would never be accepted today. I just found it strange how a father is willing to give up his child for wood.

Where Time Stands Still (1945)

*** (out of 4)

One of the better entries in MGM's TravelTalks series, this one takes us to Guatemala where we get to see a group of Indians who are still living as they were decades earlier. We see them still carrying large packs on their backs even though there are automobiles around. We also get to visit the Hotel Santu and the famous volcano that looms behind it. The highligh to the film deals with a young man leaving a pile of sticks outside his girlfriend's house. If her father takes the sticks inside then it means he gives his blessing for them to marry. I won't spoil what he does but this is certainly one of the more entertaining entries. James A. FitzPatrick does his usual nice job narrating our events. The stories about the Indians were all very interesting as was all the buildings and various other items that they would work on. As usual, the Technicolor really brings everything to life.