mano de obra (w&d david zonana)

There was a very successful movie last year called Parasite, which I haven’t managed to see. If it’s half as good as Mano de Obra, which embraces similar themes, then it will have deserved its plaudits. 

Mano de Obra tells the story of a Mexican labourer, Francisco, who’s working on a luxury home for a rich man. The employees are treated with the kind of short shrift that is typical of contemporary class structures the world over. The house nears completion, and Francisco, embittered by what’s happened to his brother, decides to take drastic action, moving in and taking over the house. So far, perhaps so predictable. Shots of Francisco in the jacuzzi or the luxurious bed, all of which is in complete contrast to his previous dwellings which flooded whenever in rained. He stats to hatch a plan to claim the house, getting people from his old barrio to move in. Suddenly the house is full of people of all ages, not to mention chickens. But something happens to Francisco. Power corrupts and he starts to act like a lord. His housemates rebel, especially when legal eviction letters start to arrive. 

Zonana tells his tale with a dry economy. The second half of the film takes place in the same location, the luxury house which Francisco has claimed. The way in which the narrative gradually unfurls to give a telling portrayal not just of modern day Mexico, but also of the class struggles which persist and trap around the globe, is masterly.

This was the last film we saw in Cinemateca before its doors closed once again before Christmas, 2020. As yet there’s no sign of the cinema reopening. One is forced to recall yet again how important the process of going to the cinema is; how much it nourishes, how much it can expand one’s horizons. One of the saddest aspects of the twenty first century has been the increased primacy of the small screen over the large one. Not so much for aesthetic reasons (the detail that the large screen captures); but because the action of watching cinema is always fiercer as a social commitment, as a way of participating within both the local and the global environment. Cinemateca will be back; not a day too soon.