A PLACE CALLED CHIAPAS A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): ***
Called "the world's first post modern revolution" by reports in The New York Times, the complex revolution of the indigenous peoples in southern Mexico is the subject of Nettie Wild's fascinating documentary entitled A PLACE CALLED CHIAPAS.
As enigmatic as its subject material, the documentary makes the place seem like a cross between a new Revolutionland area of Disneyland and a local folk festival. Only in the latter part of the movie do the images subside and the substance begins to take over. The lead figure of the drama is a masked man, who is a foot taller than the local Indians and who speaks Spanish rather than Tzotzil. Calling himself Marcos, he mugs for the camera and even participates in a fashion shoot for a French magazine. With his striking stance and his signature pipe, he provides the perfect logo for the insurrection.
"I am drawn to the Zapatistas with an uneasy excitement," Wild confesses with the giddy exhilaration of someone off to an exotic and slightly dangerous land for vacation. The film's downfall is that she finds very few people to interview, relying instead on her thoughts in voice-over as she shows us travelogue -- beautiful scenes of the natives in their colorful costumes -- plus ski masks and bandanas to cover the faces of the men with the guns.
She relates the story of the uprising of Zapatistas at the end of 1993, followed soon thereafter by a tenuous truce. Complicating the situation is the juxtaposition of two armed military groups -- the Zapatistas and another called "Peace and Justice" -- who oppose each other.
Meanwhile, the local ranchers lose their lands. One rancher points out that three years ago the Zapatistas took over his land, cattle and coffee bushes. What was once a working ranch employing many is now a land lying fallow. She interviews the Zapatista squatters on that ranch. They have grand plans, but no money to make them a reality. The viewers' sympathies, which are initially with the rebels, turn somewhat after these interviews, as the viewers contemplate how ranchers in the U.S. would feel if someone confiscated their lands and then let the land rot.
The filmmaker seems to have found profound meaning in her work. "I began to realize that my camera was framing the gap between reality and rhetoric," she effuses.
Marcos turns the tables on Wild, asking her how long she has been there. When he hears that she measures her visit in months, he claims that she can't begin to comprehend the situation. "I've been here 12 years, and I still don't understand it," he confesses.
A PLACE CALLED CHIAPAS runs 1:29. The film is mainly in English, but some scenes are in Spanish and in Tzotzil, both with English subtitles. It is not rated but might be PG-13 for language, mature themes and some violent images. It would be fine for teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
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