‘This Is Not Berlin’ Film Review: Teens Come of Age in Mexico’s Post-Punk Avant-Garde

Hari Sama’s “This Is Not Berlin” is a memory movie set in the art world and punk scene of Mexico City circa 1986, a world that is packed with visual detail and moments that are trapped in time by the camera. The film moves very fast and takes in as much of this world as possible for us, offering it up both lovingly and satirically. There are many characters, but somehow what stands out are shots of Tabasco sauce poured on eggs, a cartoon program playing on a television set and smoke drifting in the air from cigarettes. In one charged and lyrical scene here, best friends Carlos (Xabiani Ponce de León) and Gera (José Antonio Toledano) are seen from above smoking cigarettes together, with a paper cup framed in back of them so that we can see the cigarette butts that have been discarded. Their faces are open to the pleasure of the moment, and there is something very intimate about the energy between them. The magic of this short scene is something that can’t quite be verbalized, but can be experienced visually. Also Read: 'The Chambermaid' Film Review: Mexican Drama Gives Powerful Voice to Invisible Laborers At one...

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