“Cielo” (“Heaven”)
(Bolivia/UK)
Screened at the 42nd Annual Chicago Latino Film Festival (4/5) Chicago Premiere
Letterboxd (4/5), Imdb.com (8/10), TMDB.com (8/10), Imdb critics review
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What does it take to get to heaven? What’s more, what can/should we expect if we’re able to get there? Will it live up to the beliefs we hold about it, especially the promises and expectations attributed to it? Those questions are important ones that many of us ask ourselves, but the answers are especially relevant to those who have experienced difficult lives here on the terrestrial plane. And, in this fairytale-like fable from writer-director Alberto Sciamma, that’s precisely what a hopeful young indigenous girl named Santa (Fer Monserrat) hopes to find out for herself. The enigmatic youngster from Bolivia’s desolate altiplano (high plateau) and her long-suffering mother, Paz (Carla Arana), have endured their share of trials and tribulations, especially at the hand of their abusive, uncaring, self-absorbed father/husband, Julio (Juan Carlos Aduviri). But, after eight years of this ongoing ordeal, Santa finally takes matters into her own hands and kills him with a blow to the head using, ironically, a heart-shaped rock. And, somewhat shockingly, she subsequently slays her mother (seemingly with Paz’s consent) while the two engage in an apparently joyful dance to celebrate Julio’s demise. But there’s a method to this seeming carnage (after tall, this is a fairytale, and we all know how grotesque their storylines can be): Santa believes there’s a better place for her and Paz – cielo (heaven) – and she plans to take herself and her mom’s salt-preserved corpse there. And, given Santa’s apparent mastery of certain kinds of magical powers (thanks to a fish that supposedly lives inside her belly), she’s determined to make this dream a reality. She thus sets off on an odyssey across the altiplano with the facilitation of a kindly priest (Luis Bredow), the help of a troupe of lady wrestlers led by the fierce but compassionate La Reina (Mariela Salaverry) and the backing of an initially befuddled (but later empathetically helpful) small town police chief (Fernando Arze Echalar) who’s “converted” once he becomes convinced of the authenticity of Santa’s miraculous capabilities. This magical and mystical journey is full of adventure and more than its share of twists and turns, some of them obviously corporeal and others surreal and symbolic, drawing from various aspects of native South American folklore. Admittedly, the elements in this tale don’t always hold together as well as they might have, and some narrative tangents seem out of place or inadequately explained. But, for what it’s worth, “Cielo” is always colorful (literally and figuratively), never dull, innately charming and gorgeously filmed, beautifully showcasing its native Bolivian landscape locations. What’s more, despite the sometimes-troubling nature of some of its story elements, there’s an undeniable optimistic and hopeful undercurrent that runs throughout the picture, reinforcing one’s belief in the concept of heaven, even if it doesn’t necessarily conform to preconceived notions of what it might be like, and the promise it holds out for those determined – and destined – to find it.