Tótem – My sun
Portrait of a family, reunited for a birthday that feels like farewell, seen through the eyes of little Sol.
< 0>Little Sol (Naíma Sentíes) and her mother Lucia (Iazua Larios) joking in the bathroom. Shortly after the two get into the car, when they pass under a bridge they play holding their breath and then both express a wish.
The joy fades and Sol's thoughts immediately go to his father Tonatiuth (Mateo Garcia ).
From its incipit, Tótem, Lila Avilés' second feature film, shows the two emotions within which it will oscillate; joy mixed with pain in a bittersweet mix in which love will still predominate; always and despite everything.
The Mexican director chooses a unity of place; the family home of the protagonists, and of time; Tonatiuth's birthday; to then unravel his story in a thousand different streams.
Sol's gaze will always remain at the centre, without however allowing the character to dominate over the others in what is above all a choral story.
What we are going to celebrate, it is clearly a farewell, all the characters in the film know this, but the sadness is always mitigated by small moments of joy and the warmth that both Tonatiuth's relatives and his friends express towards each other.< 1>
Armed with a hand-held camera, photography that favors warm colors and an iron script, Lila Avilés incredibly manages to give equal dignity to all her characters and excellently outlines their psychology with very few strokes.<1 >
Sometimes glances are enough, as in the case of Tonatiuth's father who wanders around the house in the throes of bewilderment, impotence and perhaps anger.
Everything is filtered through the gaze so much Only as much as her little cousin.
Small and large events follow one another; Sol's uncle brings his niece a goldfish as a gift while the two girls play and argue.
One of the two sisters; Nuria proceeds with an exorcism ritual while the other sister, Alejandra, drowns her sorrows in alcohol and finds comfort and support, in a wonderful and touching relationship, from her daughter.
Moments of boredom follow those of worry about money, the sisters and brother discuss at a table the options that remain to treat Tonatiuth while the latter is locked in his room helped by Cruz.
Mexico appears at the door in the form of the exorcism rituals and the anthropological stories of Tonatiuth's friends and a composite portrait emerges that mixes different feelings, moving from boredom to joy, from worries to moments of celebration, from small daily tasks to preparations for the party.
What supports the film, in addition to the director's narrative skills, are above all her performers capable of giving depth and depth to their roles.
Above all, little Naíma Sentíes dominates, giving an extraordinary performance that in the end he gives us two unforgettable moments.
The first is his very funny singing performance which brings Tonatiuth to tears and the second is the very intense close-up which closes the story and which manages to enclose, in a few seconds, a whole world of emotions that deeply penetrate the viewer.
EMILIANO BAGLIO
