Tenemos la carne

After seemingly wandering a ruined city for years in search of food and shelter, two siblings find their way into one of the last remaining buildings. Inside, they find a man who will make them a dangerous offer to survive the outside world.

For me, this film is all about the rich color of the cinematography (from Yollótl Alvarado), the depth of the sound (from Esteban Aldrete), and the overall atmosphere. I could have used a bit less dizzying camera movement, however, though it does have an underlying purpose. Whether you appreciate the plot and situations or not (and many will not), there is no denying the craft of the camera and sound.

Variety noted that the film was an "extreme Mexican fiesta of incest, cannibalism and explicit sex that should earn detractors and fans in equal measure." Other reviewers have called it simultaneously boring and shocking. It really is all these things... some moments were too much for me to really enjoy the picture, as the shock factor seemed gratuitous -- unlike the extremes of "Visitor Q" or "Salo", which have a clear satirical purpose.

Now, to be fair, "We Are the Flesh" does have its satirical moments. It has digs on "blind patriotism" and attacks the ritualism of religion, specifically Catholicism. As the film progresses, more of this is evident and we realize how much the social conventions and expectations are turned on their head. (Some of the most subtle moments are not even realized until we learn the "names" of the characters from the credits!)

"We Are the Flesh" made quite the impact during 2016 on the festival circuit. I had my first opportunity to see it at Montreal's Fantasia. There was never any doubt that it would be picked up for distribution, though it comes as a surprise that the ones who came along were Arrow Video. Arrow is without question one of the best film distributors in existence, but their focus tends to be classic cult, not contemporary.

Regardless, Arrow pulls all the stops with their Blu-ray. We have new interviews with the director and cast, as well as a highly enlightening visual essay from critic Virginie Sélavy, where she explains easily-overlooked symbolism and draws parallels to the work of Alejandro Jodorowsky. Perhaps best of all ,the disc has two other short films from director Emiliano Rocha Minter: "Dentro" and "Videohome", to really round out the experience.

How can I like and not this film at all. I just don't really know what to say about this. Siblings feed into the depravity of humanity, by some insane man for food. That's the supposed story that can be deduced to. I felt emotionally disconnected to the proceedings after the movie veers off into an incoherent narrative. The insane man, Mariano, had something interesting to him, but, suddenly, we are plunged into supernatural incoherence. Lots of sex and symbolism kinda makes this film look pretentious. I wouldn't even want to say 'pretentious', because the film is pretty solid in its imagery and cinematography. But it's pretty much lacking in emotional resonance. Well, the symbolism could be that of insanity through pleasure, and how one would eat themselves and others while delving into insanity. One thing is that, I was not emotionally moved by the story. It was pretty confusing, and pretty insubstantial to warrant the need for another viewing to fully comprehend the narrative. Only, if there was one.

Rated TV-MA in the version I saw, but certainly not for any television station I could ever think of. Way rougher than that. There is an abundance of flesh, often shown in different color filters, which add impact to the scenes. It is supposed to be set in a ruined city in a decrepit building, where two young people come across a rather disturbed man who seems in charge of the building. He gives them shelter and food, and in return they work to erect structures inside the building. The two are brothers and sisters. It is difficult to say anything more without spoiling the movie. To say the least, it is rather far out. But also intriguing. Certainly not for everyone. Many wold appreciate the creative use of color and shadow in telling the story. I am straddling the rating, as some may rate it higher for the unique approach to film making, and others lower due to the subject matter.

Never trust reviews from people who walk out of a movie. Reviews are opinions stressed by people who watched the whole film. When people write reviews of films they walked out of, that's not a review: it's an uninformed comment.

This is as much as a review as it is an honest opinion by someone who watched the film in its entirety. Keeping in mind that great films shouldn't be loved by everyone.

We Are the Flesh is a cinematic version of dark thoughts and ideas most people immediately remove from their train of thought. As long as you are human enough to understand what is right and wrong in reality, there isn't a single thing wrong with examining dark and even grim thoughts that every single human being has from time to time.

This film explores those themes and presents them in ways that are meant to be hard to watch. These are themes that you normally wouldn't bring up in random conversations with random people. These are themes that aren't meant to be visited often but should be explored at least once. Just to see what they look like. Just to see what dark and grim things you otherwise would not have in your life (by choice) but are curious to see the repercussions from the vile acts that go on in dark places.

For me, We Are the Flesh depicts a horrid version of common, hopeless and deprived humanity. It's a brief example of those dark things I never would allow myself to act upon physically or emotionally. But I find those areas of the unknown panning out visually stimulating. Afterward, I can walk away when the film ends satisfied for experiencing a story that made me think of things I don't want to think about. But I can leave those dark questions answered by putting them behind me and leaving them with this film.

Which to me, makes for a wonderful and well made film.

This film's main problem is that it doesn't make any sense. He's trying to be David Lynch and failing. I don't mind the "transgressive" routine, it's that it ultimately doesn't really go anywhere. Ambitious, but ultimately... meh.