We never quite see the entire volcano during “Ixcanul,” at least not in a picture-postcard way. We usually see just a piece of it, in the background, but people talk about it all the time.
They give offerings to the volcano, they try to appease it, they wonder what’s on the other side of it. The volcano is just always there — as though living on the flank of a smoking mountain is an everyday thing.
This location is part of the fascination of “Ixcanul,” a compelling film from Guatemala. An age-old story is played out among the cinders, as the laborers on a coffee plantation navigate superstition and modern life.
Our main character is Maria (Maria Mercedes Coroy), a teenage member of the Mayan Kaqchikel community. Her parents have arranged for her to marry the widowed plantation owner, but Maria has her own yearnings.
When Maria becomes pregnant by an irresponsible day laborer — who then decamps for the other side of the mountain — the family’s plans are in disarray. Potions are concocted, ancient rituals are invoked, and the belief that pregnant women can drive away snakes is tested.
Writer-director Jayro Bustamente includes specific details about living in this remote place — and, with a third-act sequence set in the city, provides a jarring comparison with how far away modernity seems.
That’s more effective than some of the film’s broader notions, such as explicitly comparing the pregnant Maria to the threatening volcano.
One haunting element is the way language keeps hurting this indigenous family. They don’t speak Spanish — although the plantation owner does — and so when they are confronted with important questions from census-takers or medical staffers, they can’t truly speak for themselves, or fully understand what other people are up to.
“Ixcanul” is beautiful to look at, whether it is surveying the ashy mountainside or the intricate weavings of the native clothing. But Bustamente’s camera doesn’t give us the tourist view of events — that’s why we don’t get the postcard views.
When Maria’s lover speaks of going to the United States, she warily asks him what the air will be like in that country. “Here, the air smells of coffee and the volcano,” she says. “Ixcanul” gives you a whiff of this special atmosphere.
“Ixcanul” (3 stars)
In the shadow of a Guatemalan volcano, a Mayan coffee worker risks her arranged marriage with a plantation owner because of her own yearnings. This film tells an age-old story in a different, very compelling location. In Maya and Spanish, with English subtitles.
Rating: Not rated, probably R for nudity
Showing: Grand Illusion theater
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