The first two-thirds of “Dos Estaciones” feels like a documentary as it immerses the viewer in the operations of a tequila factory in a small Mexican village. Then, as the plot kicks in, it becomes the story of a struggle to survive, for the factory, its stoic owner and the community it keeps alive.
The winner of a Special Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, director/co-writer Juan Pablo Gonzalez’s film follows 50-year-old businesswoman Maria Garcia (Teresa Sanchez) as she tries to keep her once-prosperous family tequila factory competitive with the foreign operations that have come to the Jalisco highlands.
Teresa Sánchez plays Maria Garcia, the 50-year-old businesswoman who tries to keep her once-prosperous family tequila factory alive.
The film follows the tequila-making operation — from the growing and harvesting of the blue agave plants through the process of separating juices and sugars, distillation, bottling and finally shipping.
But each of those operations is plagued and needs greater attention than Garcia can provide.
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So, despite not being able to fully pay the factory manager, she hires Rafaela (Rafaela Fuentes, one of several nonprofessional actors in the cast), a young woman who has experience at another tequila factory but who has lost her job and moved to Garcia’s village.
They meet at a birthday party for the son of one of Garcia’s employees. After the kids attack a pinata, the family poses for a photograph, making Garcia stand with them — for, the father says, she’s part of the family.
Venturing into the village, the film visits Tatin (Tatin Vera), a trans woman who runs a hair dressing shop given to her by Garcia — the most explicit evidence that she not only supports the community through employment but by sharing her wealth and property.
Critically, her ability to support the community is threatened, apparently by insurmountable debt. At least that’s what can be sussed out from the minimal dialogue.
Even when the plot, which has been subtly set up in the film’s first hour, kicks in, Gonzalez provides little explanation about what’s going on and why.
A key employee, for example, leaves the factory but won’t tell Garcia where he is going to work. Presumably, it’s one of the international operations that she curses under her breath.
And a combination of natural disasters pushes Garcia to the edge, but again, the film doesn’t spell out why she acts or the ramifications of that action.
That, and the deliberate pacing, works against “Dos Estaciones” functioning as a gripping drama, turning it into a contemplative, effectively shot film that makes the viewer decide what’s going on, think about the impact of globalization, and come to understand and respect the taciturn Garcia as she quietly fights the battle for survival.
Reach the writer at 402-473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com. On Twitter @KentWolgamott
