REVIEW: ‘Los Ojos del Mar’ from Hola Mexico FF
Image courtesy of Hola Mexico Film Festival / Provided by press rep with permission.
Like many film festivals, the Hola Mexico Film Festival has been temporarily sidelined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that has not stopped the organizers from continuing their celebration of Mexican cinema. As they settle on plans for the in-person festival, the organizers of Hola Mexico have decided to curate a series of weekly virtual screenings of recent Mexican cinema.
Upcoming films and dates include Vuelve a la Vida on June 11, Heli on June 12, Paraiso on June 13 and Abel on June 14. One of the recent films to have played the virtual showcase was Los Ojos del Mar, the 2017 documentary from director José Álvarez.
The movie finds Hortensia Pérez Rocha trying to memorialize the lives of fishermen who tragically died at sea in the local area of Veracruz, Mexico. The incident has deeply impacted her local town, and Rocha, who works on the docks and had a solid rapport with each of the fisherman, is inspired to give them a proper sendoff.
She, quite powerfully, decides to visit each and every family that has been devastated by the tragedy, and she asks them to say a few words and deposit some keepsakes in a simple wooden box. It is her intention to board a ship for the exact area where the fishermen perished and drop the box into the sea.
This film is poignant and poetic, mostly because it feels authentic to this community of people who live by the opportunity, embrace and brutality of the Gulf of Mexico. Rocha obviously knows the townspeople well enough that they entrust their fond farewells in her hands. She shows respect and caring for the loss of life, and she feels personally compelled to bring some type of closure to these community members — who, due to circumstances, were never properly allowed to say goodbye.
This documentary may appear on its surface to be dealing with an event that feels faraway, only impacting a community in Veracruz, but there are reverberations that hold true to all viewers. The sense of grief and dismay, the power of community and family, the personal desire to effect change — these are universal. And, perhaps most importantly, Rocha’s mission is no small story for her and these families. This has been a devastating chapter in their lives, and this box of keepsakes and this documentary by Álvarez are records of what happened, who was lost and how they worked through their grief.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Los Ojos del Mar (2017). Directed by José Álvarez. Running time: 80 minutes. Rating: 
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