'Silent Light' Shines Bright at Mexican Ariel Awards

I was glad to see Silent Light (Luz silenciosa) at the Portland International Film Festival last month. It was a rewarding cinematic experience (here's my review), and now, having seen it, I know why there was such an outcry when it (and several other worthy films) failed to make the Oscar foreign-language category shortlist. It's an extraordinary movie, not to mention another milestone in Mexico's current filmmaking golden age.

It would seem the Mexicans agree, as Silent Light took home five trophies -- including best picture -- at Tuesday's Ariel Awards. (The Ariels are the Mexican equivalent of the Oscars.) Carlos Reygadas, who wrote and directed the film, won awards for both of those jobs, while Maria Pankratz was named best supporting actress. Alexis Zabe's cinematography was also awarded, and with good reason -- the images in this film are breathtakingly beautiful.
Meanwhile, the horror flick Kilometro 31 -- Mexico's biggest box office hit of 2007 -- also won five Ariels, though they were all in technical categories: sound, makeup, costumes, visual effects, and special effects. How "visual effects" differ from "special effects," I don't know. Probably some hard-to-explain reason like the difference between the Oscars' sound editing and sound mixing categories.

Other multiple-award winners were Los ladrones viejos (The Old Thieves) for best documentary and best editing, and Quemar las naves (Burn the Bridges) for best actress and original score. Ernesto Contreras' Párpados azules (Blue Eyelids), a jury winner at Sundance this year, won for best first work, and the best Latin American film was Argentina's XXY ... another worthy film that slipped through the Oscar cracks.