Temporada de patos

Not only Fernando Eimbcke challenged himself to shoot a movie inside of an apartment but he casted three kids without any experience in acting. The result is an original realistic movie with truly funny young characters. And yes: there are guns, drugs, flirting and bare buttocks but in a unworried way -enough to be fun and not scary. It is Eimbcke's opera prima for a long movie and he proved that his experience directing music videoclips and comedic short movies is a good foundation for this movie. He already got seven "mayahueles" at the Guadalajara Film Festival, a MTV Movie Award and he got his chance of showing Duck Season at the International Critics Week in Cannes 2004.

I think this movie is exceptionally great. I goes to show that a good film does not need of an elaborate scenery or a super script to be good or funny. The photography by Alexis Zabe was amazing; Situated in Tlatelolco, a place where many remember the killing of 68(read your history people)It shows a side of Mexico city that many people don't know. Since its stereotyped as the city with the highest crime rates in Latin America, in a way we are invited to a small fraction of the lives of 4 people. That is what I liked the most about the film, its mainly centered on day to day problems.

If you are not a native speaker, many of the jokes can be lost. other than that I recommend it fully.

best quote:

"vayase a la mierda, corrame. me vale pito"

This is a wonderful example of the freshness in contemporary Mexican cinema. It's the story of two fourteen-year-old boys, who've been best friends for a long time. They get the chance to spend a whole day all by themselves at home playing video game and eating junk food. What they expected to be a quiet and pleasant day ends up being a total mess after the arrival of a teenage girl neighbor and a pizza delivery guy. Most of the film is a comedy which made everybody in the cinema laugh out loud. But the character building is so wonderfully done, that one gets very interested. In the beginning, the director made 2 or 3 minutes entirely of shots of the neighborhood in which the boys live. He makes us feel exactly how it is to live there. Also there's a slight theme of homosexuality (one boy realizes that he may be falling in love with the other one) that is very well developed.

It's basically a bittersweet story with really funny moments and outstanding actors performances, direction, screenplay and cinematography (the film was shot in black and white). It won 7 prizes, including best film, best director and best actress in the last Guadalajara Film Festival. A must-see!

I viewed this at the Toronto International Film festival and I was pleasantly surprised- simple, direct, and yet still very engaging.

It highlights the simplicity of childhood and the difficulty of early adolescence; as well as just simple, human joys. A film like this need not be complex, technically, I mean hey, it worked with "Clerks" didn't it?

I enjoyed this film tremendously because it was so realistic- it reminded me a lot of how I and other kids acted when we were younger (perhaps the pizza guy is excluded from this realism).

I would recommend this film to just about anyone, and I can't wait to see if it's ever released to video.

As usual, IMDb voters are VERY easily entertained. "Duck Season" was a big disappointment to me. It is played more for laughs although there were some poignant moments, too. Unfortunately, I was starting to feel as bored as some of the characters. Could have done without the "dead animals" scene, it really wasn't necessary. The film was also shot in B&W which surprised me but seemed appropriate. There isn't a lot of meat here, but if you like character studies, it isn't bad. Enrique Arreola as the pizza guy gives a very good performance. The younger actors weren't that convincing.

5/10