Overview
The Mendez family has been living on occupied land in the hills outside Bogotá for 40 years, where they can be legally evicted at any time. Every day they walk down to the city to collect scrap materials to sell, and leftovers from restaurants to feed their pigs. Victor has been married to Marta for 10 years, but his mother, Elvira, has never approved of her. The conflict between these two women forces Victor to take sides, coming in the way of their efforts to earn a living. The threats that a neighbor makes to Victor give Elvira another reason to blame Marta for all of the family’s problems, but Sandra, their youngest daughter, will provide another chance to unite the family. Dignity and courage combine in a story about the impossibility of progress and the persistence of dreams for this family of scrap merchants.
Reviews
La Casa by Tayo Cortes
Victor Mendez has lived with his mother on the outskirts of the Columbian capital of Bogotá for 40 years, in the middle of the forest but on illegal ground, in a makeshift wooden cabin. They could be driven out any time. Ever since his new wife, of whom his mother disapprovers strongly, has moven in, quarrels have dominated their daily life. It is strenuous making a living collecting garbage, rolling tons through the streets, digging in the dirt. Still, Victor Mendez simply will not give up. Every day he and his miserable donkeys transport his booty up and down the hill. A cycle which is literally a waiting loop. Filmmaker Tayo Cortés took a lot of time to study these conditions. Poverty is never the same, poverty is always individual. Mendez was born into these conditions and has had nothing but bad luck. Cortés's camera continuously follows him at work, it becomes part of his daily life, entering deeper and deeper into the entangled relationships within this ominous ménage à trois. Poverty hardens the heart. Their interdependence has become contempt. The film records this modern-day Sisyphos with a formidable and radical consequence. The only thing left for Mendez in all this desolation is dreams. At least they are free. CK
