sergelamarche Life in paradise is not always a dream come true. A promised girl get lured by the unknown attraction of money and adventure with a working boy just long enough to get screwed. The mistake is not easily solved and more dramatic the situation becomes, until we make it full circle. Not before many hearts get broken. Beauty all over the place in the film. Excellent acting, felt like it was reenacted by the very people that the story was about. Very glad to see a glimpse of the world, unknown so far as well.

ejhoffman Set in the beautiful, mountainous landscape of Guatemala, Ixcanul tells the sad, but compelling story of a young girl fighting with her cultural norms. Maria, the protagonist of the movie, has been promised, at the decision of her parents, to another young man she does not know and does not love. From an outsider's perspective, not understanding the culture of arranged marriages, it is quite difficult to identify with her and the emotions that she is feeling. Additionally, the use of the Mayan language, Kaqchikel, only heightens the disconnect between Maria and the audience of the movie. While the use of the indigenous, Mayan language, is beautiful, and is bringing light to an almost forgotten culture, it keeps the audience at a distance. Even though we want to truly understand Maria and her rebellion against her culture's traditions, we simply cannot. At least not at first. As the story progresses, I was able to more strongly connect with Maria and her sad situation. I was able to see past the language barrier and sympathize with her. Here she is, a young, promised woman, pregnant with another man's baby, trying to protect her family's reputation from what she has done. The audience is let in and able to develop a connection to Maria through the intimate scene with her mother. We may not be right there, but the audience is allowed to participate in these scenes. In the end, I really did appreciate the movie, its use of an indigenous, Mayan language, and its ability to slowly pull the audience into Maria's story. There is a level of complexity that at first kept the audience at a distance, and may have even turned some viewer's off to the movie. As the director allows moments of participation between Maria, Juana and the audience, it becomes a beautiful story that captures any audience.

kestonnhorst Ixcanul has stunning cinematography and is brimming with passion and originality, but it might not be the best choice in terms of cultural accuracy. While it is impressive that native Kaqchikel speakers were cast to give it an authentic, indigenous feel, the representation of the Kaqchikel people is not its best. I will not claim to be an expert on the topic, but after speaking with and reading a paper about the film written by a Kaqchikel woman, Ixcanul provides the in-depth view from an obvious outsider, one who hasn't done enough research. According to her, the Kaqchikel view all life as sacred and worthy of respect, so moments when María uses a tree as a sort of dildo and when she attempts to abort her fetus are wildly unrepresentative of the culture.Looking beyond these shortcomings, it is still a good tool for a superficial observation of Kaqchikel culture. While the baby kidnapping, arranged marriages, and belief in magic and superstition may be stereotypical, they still portray real aspects of some indigenous Central Americans' lives. The manipulation of Kaqchikel individuals because of their language barrier is indisputable, as is indigenous people's poverty and often impecunious plantation life. This may be the film's message—that we are treating cultures like the Kaqchikel unfairly, and perhaps the film's own inaccuracies reinforce that thought.These high and low points aside, the film is still attractive, with expert parallel framing with María and her mother in the bath, and again with María and el Pepe before they have sex. Its long, sweeping takes of María descending the volcano balance with the stills of locals hanging at a bar or with family (these scenes themselves seem almost like neoclassical paintings). The movie is masterfully executed and naturally aesthetically-pleasing in terms of camera-work and scenery, but as a means of storytelling it falls behind somewhat because of its imperfect perception of its own subject matter.

tsmada I had the wonderful experience of watching this film with my Quiché goddaughter, who found the story real and compelling. Maria, 17, is betrothed by her parents to a young man--a decision in which she has no say. Her heart, however, leads her in another direction and therein lies the story's heart. The reality of daily life for thousands of Mayan Guatemalans, many of whom speak only their indigenous language, is conveyed with a realism that never patronizes. It is the daily struggle for life, for work, and dealing in an emergency with a power structure that is far from the experience of those who must confront it. One comment about the description: The film is bilingual: Spanish and Kakchiquel, one of 22 Mayan languages spoken in Guatemala, none of which can communicate with the other. I asked my goddaughter--who is trilingual (Kiché, Spanish, and English)--if she understood any of the Kakchiquel dialogue. "No" was her answer.