A visual poem

Thanks for the tip. I shall check it out.

In my opinion this movie uses sex as bait to deliver the hook of social commentary against religion and its influence in Mexico (and most of latin america). If you grow up in a latin american country, you are surrounded by religion, opressed by the people in power (be it a democracy or a dictatorship). There really is no separation between church and state, and even in church you see the national flag flanking an image of the virgin of guadalupe. The themes are very complex and not easily rationalized by people who grew up in a neighborhood where you don't need bars on your windows and you trust that your friend won't kidnap your newborn for ransom. The culture of violence and decadence is very different when you don't have access to education nor opportunities to advance professionally. Reygada took a big chance and in my humble opinion was very succesful at depicting how ugly the world can be, seen from the 'bad guys' point of view. Its departure from 'beautiful' people (as in the traditional Victoria's Secret kind of way) having intercourse shows us something we have been programmed by our local media to discard as not-attractive. This was a very difficult movie to watch because I grew up with people in both sides of this social fence... This was a good movie.

Having just seen Silent Light again, this time on DVD along with this movie, I have to say this movie by Reygadas moved me the most out of all of his. As for the sex. I thought it was interesting how the sex between Marcos and his wife, while they are not what would be called normally pretty, was much warmer, and intimate, than when he got together with Ana who most would say is more beautiful. As for some insane beauty: the fog shot, with Marcos wandering through it, and through himself for that matter. Stunning.

And seeing the old lady from his first flick, Japon, at the gas station was a nice touch.
Thanks for the heads up about The Wayward Cloud. I'll give it a gander!

Yes, Tsai Ming Liang.The certain camera position was the camera angle of a sexual position that crossed over from one film into the other: at the end of the Watermelon film, the framing of Hsiao-Kang's rear-end during an intense thrusting moment matched a taught close-up frame of Ana's rear-end at the end of the bedroom sex scene, post-coital, when she's laying on top of Marcos; same framing and same intensity of focus on the same body part, and on the same crevice of that body part, both shots in both films focusing on the crevice.Character and thematic cross-overs, too - Hsiao-Kang and Marcos can't get no relief.......

Many ones like you. But it didn't try to "shock" anyone , you just took the side effect.

Maybe I love it because I didn't "shock" .Yup, I'm not that cheap .