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The Last Cristeros  /  The Cramp

The Last Cristeros
June 18, 2016 - 7:30 pm
Billy Wilder Theater
In-person: 
Matías Meyer.

The Last Cristeros  (Mexico/Netherlands, 2011)

Los últimos cristeros

This solemnly beautiful feature tracks the migration of a group of devout Christian pilgrims, persecuted under the anti-religious edicts of an early 20th-century Mexican regime and determined to resist, or at least survive, rather than surrender their faith.  Their silent tramping through woods and brush, enhanced by exquisite cinematography and sound and indelible imagery, solemnizes their flight as a sacred ritual in itself.

DCP, color, in Spanish with English subtitles, 89 min.  Producer: Julio Bárcenas, Matías Meyer.  Director: Matías Meyer.  Based on the novel Rescoldo, los ultimos cristeros by Antonio Estrada.  Screenwriter: Israel Cardenas, Matías Meyer.  Cinematographer: Gerardo Barroso Alcalá.  Editor: León Felipe González.  Composer: Galo Durán.  Cast: Alejandro Limón, Antonio García, Moisés Rodriguez, Salvador Ferreiro, Abel Lozano.

The Cramp  (Mexico/France, 2009)

El calambre

Julien, a disaffected young Frenchman, disembarks in the coastal city of Chacahua in southern Mexico.  Clearly burdened by a ponderous spiritual weight, he befriends a local fisherman who shows him the area, summoning sensations that engage the spirits of this visitor.  The gentle climax, revealing Julien’s identity and displaying his spirit in blossom, completes the film’s spare narrative arc with remarkable grace.

35mm, color, in Spanish, French and English with English subtitles, 92 min.  Producer: Alexandre Perrier, Matías Meyer, Paolo Herrera, Enrique Rivero.  Director: Matías Meyer.  Screenwriter: Matías Meyer.  Cinematographer: Gerardo Barroso Alcalá.  Editor: León Felipe González.  Composer: Galo Durán.  Cast: Julien Cottereau, Pablo López, Don Andres (“El Piojo”), Anita, Gisela.

Part of: 
Journeys Within and Without: Matías Meyer