Ixcanul Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Ixcanul Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf January 14, 2017

Slow burn doesn’t even begin to describe the “Ixcanul” viewing experience. It’s a film of complete stasis at times, but the fact that writer/director Jayro Bustamante is able to find a mesmerizing creep to the picture is a major achievement. A full immersion into culture, poor decisions, and responsibility, “Ixcanul” is not a feature that exits the system quickly, gradually locating outstanding character detail and, surprisingly, potent social and political commentary, making it much more than an admittedly hypnotic series of thousand yard stares. Bustamante doesn’t have much here besides his evocative vision, but he makes his moments count, following a plot that’s filled with common adolescent blues and disasters, yet arrives at a completely unpredictable destination.

Living in the remote coffee fields of Guatemala, Maria (Maria Mercedes Coroy) is young and curious about life beyond her farmland routine, living with her father Manuel (Manuel Antun) and protective mother, Juana (Maria Telon). Put up for an arranged marriage with plantation official Ignacio (Justo Lorenzo), Maria is reluctant to participate in the joining of families, attracted to field worker Pepe (Marvin Coroy), who entices the girl with tales of seeing the world, planning to relocate to America. While Ignacio is responsible and eager to take a bride, Maria indulges a night of recklessness, giving herself to a drunken Pepe, with their few minutes of passion soon resulting in an unexpected pregnancy. Unsure what to do, Maria turns to Juana for help, embarking on sobering education on the cruelties of life, managing reality with her faith in the spiritual power of a nearby volcano.

Sexuality plays an important part in “Ixcanul.” Even though the feature introduces itself with ceremonial imagery, watching a dead-eyed Maria prepare for her wedding day, the film soon investigates the young woman’s special needs in a remote area. Maria is caught in a routine of work, tending to the house and its farm animals along her parents, and we see the experience weigh heavily on the curious girl, with pigs fed rum to encourage mating, while later in the picture Maria’s parents slip in some lovemaking while they believe she’s asleep, contributing to a need to experience carnal pleasures on her own terms, away from the marriage she’s being forced into. Bustamante does a terrific job setting the scene, taking in the rituals and preparation of daily life, but it’s the swelling of desire within Maria that’s most compelling, showcasing a hidden side to the quiet girl as adulthood is forced on her, inspiring a bit of uncharacteristic recklessness.

Ignacio is stable, enjoying respected employment and a future of monetary comfort, providing for Maria without ever conveying romantic interest. She’s a future babymaking factory for him, but Maria keeps her attention on Pepe. Filled with dreams and often booze, Pepe is her big ticket out of the plantation, completely enamored with the lowly field worker, with his confidence breaking up the harmonious ways of the lifers who labor around him, making his masculinity pop for Maria. Without any type of sexual education and drinking far past his limits, Pepe accepts Maria’s invitation to take her virginity, refusing to pull out since he knows girls can’t get pregnant during their first time. It’s a moment of weakness that soon take command of “Ixcanul,” which discards an observational approach to sink its teeth into more dramatic events, finding Maria’s eventual pregnancy altering lives forever.

Ixcanul Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (2.39:1 aspect ratio) presentation brings the HD-shot "Ixcanul" to Blu-ray with complete clarity, highlighting crisp imagery that even finds cinematographic limitations. Detail is king, finding the feature's use of close-ups bringing out terrific facial particulars, and textures for farm sequences is equally impressive, securing rural life with animal skin, jungle cover, and the volcano wasteland. Distances are preserved, reaching as far out as possible. Delineation is always comfortable, preserving frame information during low-lit scenes, helping with specific moods. Colors are deep and secure, leading with intense greenery, looking out at a lush forest, and stark environmental hues maintain their presence. Skintones are spot-on.

Ixcanul Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix is designed to be evocative, not commanding, and the end result in a surprisingly active but subtle track that respects detail. Atmospherics are varied and exciting, bringing out the wildlife of the locations, while surround expanse is sold through pronounced wind, with volcano visits showcasing naturalistic intensity, also contributing a rumbly low-end. Dialogue exchanges are sharp and true, never faltering, protecting the delicacy of the performances, and group activity is managed well. Music isn't a priority to the production, but instrumentation is sharp.

Ixcanul Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Booklet (ten pages) contains an essay by Lydia Ogwang.

• Making Of (11:17, HD) is a short but fascinating look at the production post-filming, where director Jayro Bustamante joined actors Maria Mercedes Coroy and Maria Telon on a promotional tour for the feature's film festival debut in Berlin. While Bustamante is the narrator for this journey, explaining the weird global hustle necessary to sell the effort, footage of Coroy and Telon dealing with plane travel and press interviews is amusing, with the Guatemalan performers doing their best to keep up with professional demands and still sample sections of Europe they never thought they'd be able to see. Actual BTS information isn't the focus here, with Bustamante dissecting his casting choices , marveling over their talent and concentration.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (2:06, HD) is included.

Ixcanul Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's impossible to describe the second half of "Ixcanul" without slipping into spoiler territory, leaving the pregnancy only the beginning of Maria's troubles. There's Ignacio to deal with, a landscape dominated by poisonous snakes, language boundaries, and visits to the local volcano, where religion takes the form of offerings and reflection on top of cooled lava flow. Naiveté is important here, and Bustamante highlights Maria's obvious behavior in subtle ways, identifying the universal feeling of teen hopelessness while remaining in an alien landscape, beautifully photographed by Luis Armando Arteaga. "Ixcanul" is a troubling picture, with characters growing desperate as the tale unfolds, but its naturalism is truly the key that unlocks the film's potential. Bustamante creates a time and place with the effort, and while his storytelling speed seems unbearable in the opening scenes, a rhythm emerges that identifies thrilling directorial control and an appreciation for the brutality of love and trust.