The simple life looks mighty appealing in ‘Alamar’

The main people depicted on screen in “Alamar” correspond to their roles in the movie; in other words, they’re not actors, but a real-life father and son.

I don’t know how much of the movie was planned or written, and how much is real. Filmmaker Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio makes documentaries, and this obviously has a docudrama feel. But after a certain point, I didn’t care how much was fiction; the captivating mood of this warm film was justification enough.

The boy is Natan, played by Natan Machado Palombini, who was born five years earlier during a love affair that ran its course. His Italian mother, Roberta (who also plays herself), is letting Natan spend a few weeks with his Mexican father, Jorge (played by Jorge Machado).

Father and son go to an unspoiled island spot in Mexico called Banco Chinchorro, where they stay in a hut built on stilts over a quiet lagoon. Jorge’s father, an experienced fisherman, is also there.

What follows is a plotless yet deeply involving series of scenes of fishing, cooking the catch, and maintaining the hut and the fishing boat. About the only drama to speak of comes in the form of a wandering white bird, who becomes a kind of pet for Natan.

The grandfather reminds everybody that in fishing you must be patient, and perhaps that is true for the filmgoer as well. This movie immerses you in the world of Banco Chinchorro, and instead of a story line there unfolds an entire way of life: how fish is caught with lines held by hand (no rod and tackle here), how fish is cleaned, how the birds know just where to gather to pick up the leavings.

There are some astonishing reminders of the natural world: The camera casually follows the fish heads being thrown from the hut into the water, only to discover a pleased-looking crocodile waiting below.

If this isn’t Eden, it certainly looks like a dead ringer for it. The movie’s brief 73 minutes pass in a dreamy state, because time is suspended here.

And seeing the idyllic yet hard-working life in the area around Banco Chinchorro, you’ll wonder whether civilization is really all it’s cracked up to be. That’s the beguiling takeaway from this unusual movie.