Battle in Heaven (2005)

Director: Carlos Reygadas Cinematographer: Diego Martínez Vignatti


The second feature film by Mexican director Carlos Reygadas, who previously directed Japón, follows an overweight, poverty-stricken chauffeur (Marcos Hernández) and his equally downtrodden wife (Bertha Ruiz) who kidnap a baby boy for ransom money. Their longing for a better life is shattered when the child accidentally dies leaving the husband struggling with his conscience. The film may have polarised critics due to its provocatively explicit sexual content, but Battle in Heaven manages to fulfil the promise of Reygadas’s expansive, sometimes brilliant first feature with a challenging and uncompromising look at the tensions and inherent hypocrisies of Mexico’s social structure.

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DVD
Cineaste (Vol. XXXI 31 No. 3) Summer 2006 Bollywood and Beyond, Preston Sturges, Iranian Cinema, Carlos Reygadas on Battle in Heaven

 

 

 

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• • Listed among Sight & Sound’s 30 key films of the decade (2010)

CAST

• Marcos Hernández – Marcos
• Anapola Mushkadiz – Ana
• Bertha Ruiz – Marcos’ Wife
• David Bornstein – Jaime
• Rosalinda Ramirez – Viky
• El Abuelo – Chief of Police
• Brenda Angulo – Madame
• El Mago – Preacher
• Francisco ‘El Gato’ Martínez – Gas Station Attendant
• Diego Martínez Vignatti – Soccer Player
• Alejandro Mayar – Police Inspector
• Chavo Nava – Neurotic Conductor
• Estela Tamariz – Ines

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Directed by Carlos Reygadas
Produced by Philippe Bober, Susanne Marian, Carlos Reygadas, Jaime Romandia, Joseph Rouschop
Screenplay by Carlos Reygadas
Music by John Tavener
Cinematography Diego Martínez Vignatti
Edited by Adoración G. Elipe, Benjamin Mirguet, Carlos Reygadas, Nicolas Schmerkin
Running time 98 minutes
Country Mexico
Language Spanish