Director Amat Escalante
THE UNTAMED (La región salvaje) B
Mexico Denmark France
Germany Norway Switzerland
(98 mi) 2016 d:
Amat Escalante Official
Site
Quite a shift from his earlier film Heli (2013),
a blisteringly realistic look at the narco drug trafficking war in Mexico which
won the Best Direction prize at Cannes.
At least initially, one might have guessed this was a Carlos Reygadas
film, as it enters a starkly unique, other worldly sensory minefield, like
something out of Tarkovsky’s Stalker
(1979), where a meteorite from outer space has landed on earth, creating a
wilderness zone, or wild region, where mind-altering powers affects the libido
of those humans (and animals) that come in contact with this unknown mystery,
very similar to Alexander Zeidovich’s Target
(Mishen) (2011), another Russian sci-fi flick where a wilderness area in
the outer regions of Mongolia similarly effects human behavior, who suddenly
engage in animalistic sex, with disastrous side effects. What’s truly remarkable in this film is the
brilliant sound design by Sergio Diaz, Vincent Arnardi, and Raúl Locatelli, as
the strange and mysterious effects all come from the eerie sounds that permeate
throughout this film, creating suspense and indescribable tension. If this kind of mood was sustained
throughout, this might be some kind of masterpiece, but the hazards of the real
world intrude, making this more of a special effects film. The mix of countries involved in this film
tell you something about how films are made these days, as it’s a collaborative
process, borrowing from the expertise of specialized technical units, which in
this case were provided by Danish special effects teams that have a history of
working with Lars von Trier. Co-written
by the director and Gibrán Portela, the origins of the film come from combining
two local newspaper stories from Guanajuato, Mexico, one where a young woman
was raped in the woods, then was subjected to a stream of victim-shaming, where
all the rumors and gossip blamed her for what happened, while little was
mentioned about the perpetrator who went to jail. In a separate story, a naked man’s body was
found floating in an isolated stream, where the bold headline above the salacious
picture reads, “FAGGOT IS FOUND DROWNED.”
This films taps the depths of homophobia and male chauvinism, prominent
elements that exist within the predominately macho male Mexican culture, where
women and gays are often targets of abuse, but the surrounding communities show
little outrage, despite the presence and influence of the Catholic church,
where in 2016 the Mexico State Attorney investigated femicides at a rate 32%
greater than in the same period of 2015, while in Mexico there is also a
widespread explosion of homophobic murders.
Escalante, born in Spain but raised in Mexico, also won the
Best Director Silver Lion at Venice in 2016, an award he shared with Andrei
Konchalovsky’s Paradise
(Rai) (2016), though both films failed to live up to their promise. All we know from the outset is that Veronica (Simone
Bucio) enters a strangely altered world engulfed in a cloud of fog, yet the ethereal
experience is one of unsurpassed pleasure, leaving her in a state of ecstasy,
but also wounded, as she was bitten just above the hip by some sort of alien creature.
In the hospital, she is treated by a
young doctor named Fabián (Edén Villavicencio), who shows concern for her
welfare, but she’s unable to reveal what actually happened, instead saying she
was bitten by a dog, where they contemplate a series of extremely painful
rabies shots. Simultaneously, the film
cuts to a relationship in turmoil, where Alejandra (Ruth Ramos) is going
through the motions with her domineering husband Angel (Jesús Meza), but it
feels like there’s little connection between them. Working with an outdoor road crew, Angel likes
to drink heavily, exhibiting a distinctly hostile view towards gays, claiming
he wouldn’t be caught dead speaking to one, yet we soon discover he’s having a
passionate affair with Fabián. From the
opening scene, Escalante withholds nothing, revealing raw and graphic details
of sexual encounters, where in each case there are hidden consequences. With both Alejandra and Fabián, Angel’s mood
seems to shift from affection to outright hostility, as he’s a guy with anger
issues, often exploding at the slightest thing, then overreacting, exhibiting
the behavior of a macho predator. His
mindset grows dangerous when Fabián mentions they’re through, stalking him in
the hospital parking lot, literally corralling him like you would a wild
animal. In this manner, he may be a
mirror image of the mysterious creature, but we’re still unsure at this point,
as the creature promises a euphoria that can’t be explained. What’s also peculiar is an elderly couple
living in a countryside home sheltering the creature, behaving like scientists,
exploring the data they are accumulating on the creature, but they’re not behaving
like scientists, feeling overly protective, showing little objectivity. While Veronica wishes to return to their home,
this couple thinks otherwise, thinking the previous incident could grow
worse. Yet Veronica remains under a
spell, actually introducing Fabián to the creature sometime before the incident
with Angel in the parking lot, telling him “I think it’s going to like you.” When Fabián’s naked body is discovered in a
pool of standing water by a farmer, they’re shocked to discover he’s still
alive, but in a coma, his face and body bruised and battered, where Alejandra
visits him, unable to comprehend what’s really happened.
Alejandra later discovers a stream of offensive,
profanity-laden vulgarity on Angel’s phone directed towards her brother Fabián
shortly before his body was discovered, calling the police, who found another
witness from the hospital observing a heated argument between them, which got
physical, leading to Angel’s arrest.
With that in mind, Alejandra thinks she might make a new start in the
world, taking her two kids and perhaps moving somewhere else. Further instilling this idea is a situation
at their school where Angel’s grandmother unexpectedly picks them up and takes
them to her home, refusing to allow the kids to see her, explaining she’s the
reason the police arrested their father.
Taking matters into her own hands, using a brick to break through a
closed window, Alejandra retrieves her kids, telling them their grandmother is
loco, telling them terrible things. Through
repeated hospital visits to see her brother, Alejandra runs into Veronica, who
also introduces her to the creature, which is where the film literally goes
bat-shit crazy. While the production
design is excellent, this time the creature is in full view to the audience, a
slimy, snake-like entity where she becomes synonymous with Fay Wray being
delivered to King
Kong (1933), or Isabelle Adjani in Andrzej Zulawski’s Possession
(1981), who also has sex with a slimy, octopus-like alien creature with
many tentacles. But when we see them in
the throes of sex, it is much more like BARBARELLA (1968) than anything else,
as it seems preposterous, like an adolescent dream, yet it’s a sexual fantasy
of unlimited fulfillment that simply defies belief, especially considering how
hideous the creature is in each instance.
This time, however, it is accompanied not only with an ominous sound
design that suggests foreboding, but with a truly bizarre scene of animals
fornicating in the woods, as if the wilderness is possessed by an unseen mythical
spirit that rules over all. However, an
oppressive feeling emanating from this supernatural creature is hard to miss, coming
from outside all earthly realms, yet the internalized dread surrounding each incident
is very real, becoming even more ominous over time, as the audience can sense
the kind of effect it has on everyone involved. Perhaps the creepiest incident in the film,
however, is Angel’s family springing him from jail, bribing the judge, calling
in a favor, where it’s obviously not about justice, but what you can get away
with. Money talks, and the rich, apparently,
can do whatever they want, urging Angel to move somewhere else where nobody
knows him. The scene at home with his
parents reveals a house filled with guns and trophy animal heads, the source of
his machismo. Unfortunately Angel
doesn’t follow his family’s advice, ruled instead by his own primal instincts,
bullying his way into yet another confrontation with Alejandra that goes wildly
out of control, turning creepy, even absurd, adding yet another layer of atmospheric
tension, but never really elevating into something more, regretfully stuck in
its own malaise, though it’s likely meant to be a socio-political satire on
current conditions in Mexico, where the presence of the monster in the
wilderness suggests an unseen affliction, like the spirit of machismo on the
loose, that promises a world of unearthly pleasure, but uncontrollably delivers
more harm than good, like an experiment gone wrong, including a stream of
accumulating dead bodies.
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