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Reviews
La casa (2009)
La Casa by Tayo Cortes
Victor Mendez has lived with his mother on the outskirts of the Columbian capital of Bogotá for 40 years, in the middle of the forest but on illegal ground, in a makeshift wooden cabin. They could be driven out any time. Ever since his new wife, of whom his mother disapprovers strongly, has moven in, quarrels have dominated their daily life. It is strenuous making a living collecting garbage, rolling tons through the streets, digging in the dirt. Still, Victor Mendez simply will not give up. Every day he and his miserable donkeys transport his booty up and down the hill. A cycle which is literally a waiting loop. Filmmaker Tayo Cortés took a lot of time to study these conditions. Poverty is never the same, poverty is always individual. Mendez was born into these conditions and has had nothing but bad luck. Cortés's camera continuously follows him at work, it becomes part of his daily life, entering deeper and deeper into the entangled relationships within this ominous ménage à trois. Poverty hardens the heart. Their interdependence has become contempt. The film records this modern-day Sisyphos with a formidable and radical consequence. The only thing left for Mendez in all this desolation is dreams. At least they are free. CK