Brilliant film

Recalling the student strike in Mexico in 1999, young Tomas joins his brother in Mexico City as the latter's university has been closed under the occupation of striking students. Tomas has been living in Veracruz with his mother and getting into a series of scrapes, which prove too much for her. She sends him to join his brother Fede, aka Federico aka Sombra, for a reprieve. Tomas takes with him an old cassette that belonged to his absent father; we never learn what happened to the brothers' father. The cassette features a fictional Mexican 1960's rock musician, Epigmenio Cruz. When Tomas discovers Cruz lives in Mexico City and then learns he is at the local hospital, the brothers, accompanied by Fede's hilarious friend Santos, leave their apartment to track down Cruz.

Filmed in black and white the film becomes a sort-of road movie around Mexico City and is fantastic in this alone. But the film has so much more to offer as the trio get into further escapades in their quest to find Cruz and the comedy is plentiful as a result. Added to this is a rich dialectic about Mexican politics, which may resonate for other Latin nations in Central and South America. Ana, aka Anita, is one of the leaders of the students and the crush of Fede. When she joins the trio in their search for Cruz, the conversations about politics broadens into reflection of life and love. Laced throughout the film is poetry and music and a sense of Latin carnival as things begin to destructure.

The film ends at a point when new structures in the lives of the quartet are being built and it ends ambiguously but optimistically I felt. The use of the camera and the choice of shots was brilliant. Black and white photography helps accentuate people's faces and emphasises grittiness and decay; all of which feels apt for the film.

Highly recommended, I give it 10/10. I hope to own this on dvd one day so that I may watch and appreciate it again and again.

I give my respect to those who have earned it; to everyone else, I'm civil.