Cochochi (2007)

Directors:

Israel Cárdenas
Laura Amelia Guzmán

Writers:

Israel Cárdenas (writer)
Laura Amelia Guzmán (writer)

Genre:

Family

Plot:

Evaristo and Luis Antonio – indigenous brothers from the SierraTarahumara in northwest Mexico – have just graduated from boarding elementary school...

Plot Keywords:

Mexico | Children | Culture | Horse | Tarahumara

Awards:

5 wins

Cast

Antonio Lerma Batista	...	Tony
Evaristo Lerma Batista	...	Evaristo

Runtime:

Canada:87 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Mexico | UK | Canada

Language:

Tarahumara

Color:

Color

Certification:

Canada:G

Company:

Buena Onda Pictures

Beautifully executed, but hard on the audience

Reviewed at its 3rd and final North American Premiere Screening at the Cumberland 4 Theatre on Sat. Sept. 15, 2007 during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) We went in to see Cochochi on the final day of TIFF knowing that it had won the Diesel Discovery Award at the festival (voted on by members of the international media attending TIFF) but also knowing that its IMDb rating at the time was only 2.5 out of 10.

It wasn't too long into the film before it was clear why the rating was so low. The obviously amateur cast members are always speaking in delayed fits and starts while pausing as if trying to remember what their next line is. This becomes quite a trial for the audience to sit through. However, what I ended up doing was paying more attention to the elements of the film of which you are normally oblivious when you are watching something where the cast and the story have you totally engrossed.

And I have to say that when you follow the camera work, the film editing, the soundtrack and the foley (the sound effects of wind in the grass, feet walking, etc.) this does come across very well for a first time film. So the promising aspect of the Discovery Award that the young filmmakers received was a little bit more understandable when looking at the film this way. It forced me to imagine what the film would be like if only the dialogue was moving along faster and the characters weren't moving/acting in such a self-conscious manner. All of the other required elements of a professional film were in place here.

The story involves two brothers Antonio (called "Tony") and Evaristo from Cochochi, Mexico who have graduated from Grade 6 Elementary School. (Pay careful attention to the names if you see the film, because you need to be sharp about this in order to catch the associated payoff at the very end). The boys are sent on an errand to deliver medicine to a relative in the canyons and take their grandfather's horse without permission for the journey. They lose the horse and then each other along the way, but with the help of instinct and a good old public service radio announcement it all ends happily. All in all, it was a nice innocent storyline that hearkens back to memories of one's own days of youthful mischief.

My friend and I had also been attracted to the film because the TIFF promos had played up the cultural aspects of the boys being from the Tarahumara region of Mexico and that most of the film's dialogue was in the indigenous language. However, aside from seeing a brief glimpse of children dancing in folk costumes and hearing the Tarahumara language I didn't feel I gained any huge understanding of what made the culture distinct from other rural Mexican ones (or even rural ones in general).

Congratulations to the filmmakers on their award and I hope that they can develop future films along these lines and be able to afford more time for scripting and rehearsal with cast in the future so that their films will be more easily received by the public.