The Echo: Review. By Joe Muldoon.

From the heart and mind of widely celebrated filmmaker-documentarian Tatiana Huezo comes The Echo, a meditative docufiction that centres itself around a small rural village in Puebla, Mexico. Slow, unrushed, and shot over the course of 18 months, Huezo documents the lives (and, occasionally, deaths) of the community members – a community tight-knit and irrevocably bound, not only by familial and communal ties, but also by one unstoppable force: weather.

As the locals cycle through the seasons, each change offers up a fresh set of challenges; bitter frost in the winter, drought in the summer, and various vegetative hardships scattered across the lot. Virtually plotless, we weave amongst the many generations of Pueblans and see how they combat their circumstances and interact with the wider world. The youngest seek education, their parents go to work (the men further afield and the women domestically), and the elders are cared for by the youth.

With its unconventional approach to documentary filmmaking, it’s easy to overlook the fact that The Echo is actually grounded mostly in reality. Ernesto Pardo’s cinematography style is gorgeously cinematic, and the breathtaking Mexican landscape is truly brought to life with real care. With a distinct lack of any narration, talking heads, or overt narrative, the Huezo fosters a pleasantly tranquil atmosphere.

The presence of the cameras never feels obtrusive or driving; we’re simply passengers to the residents’ lives. There’s a quiet but noticeable feminism underlying the film; as the Pueblans’ lives echo those of their forebears, so do their oftentimes patriarchal expectations and restrictions.

As instructed by her mother (Luz María Vázquez González), teenager Montse (Montserrat Hernandez) tenderly cares for her infirm grandmother, expected to bathe and aid her wherever needed. Montse’s own aspirations aren’t of great import to her elders – she has a responsibility bestowed upon her and she fulfils it, an echo of how her mother was expected to act with her own grandmother.

Directed, written, produced, and edited by the multi award-winning Huezo, the documentary is a triumph in originality. Though warm and gentle with its direction, The Echo eschews sentimentality, instead doing right by the community of El Eco through honest, fair observation. Though there’s plenty of beauty to witness, there’s also enough tribulation, some unavoidable, and some societal. For an echo to be made, there must be a genesis to the sound; Huezo urges that if the villagers hope to realise their dreams, they must make new noise and create their own echoes.

By Joe Muldoon

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