Amat Escalante | Through the Shattered Lens

4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking.

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Despite what many people seem to believe, Cinco De Mayo is not the same thing as Mexican Independence Day (that’s celebrated on September 16th). Instead, Cinco De Mayo commemorates the Mexican army’s victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla. That battle was fought on May 5th, 1862. That was a 157 years ago, today.

Cinco De Mayo is a pretty big deal down here in Texas and some of my fondest (and, in some cases, haziest) memories are related to this date. I especially like to remember May 5th, 2007, in which I spent several hours with a group of my closest and dearest friends, sitting out on the roof of a friend’s house, watching fireworks explode over our heads. That was a wonderful night, even if someone did eventually end up falling off the roof. (Don’t worry, he not only survived but he’s now got a pretty good job in D.C. and he’ll probably be your congressman someday.)

In honor of the day, here are four shots from four of my favorite Mexican films….

4 Shots From 4 Films

The Violin (2005, dir by Francisco Vargas)

El Infierno (2010, dir by Luis Estrada)

Miss Bala (2011, dir by Gerardo Naranjo)

Heli (2013, dir by Amat Escalante)

Bruce Dern in Nebraksa

Here are the official winners at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival:

Palme d’Or – Blue Is the Warmest Colour by Abdellatif Kechiche
Honorary Palme d’Or – Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux for Blue Is the Warmest Colour
Grand Prix – Inside Llewyn Davis by Joel & Ethan Coen
Best Director – Amat Escalante for Heli
Best Screenplay – Jia Zhangke for A Touch of Sin
Best Actress – Bérénice Bejo for The Past
Best Actor – Bruce Dern for Nebraska
Jury Prize – Like Father, Like Son by Hirokazu Koreeda

Both The Tree of Life and Amour were nominated for best picture after winning the Palme d’Or and, in fact, it could be argued that neither one of those films would have had the momentum necessary to score an Oscar nod if they hadn’t first won at Cannes. It’ll be interesting to see if this trend will continue with Blue Is The Warmest Colour.

As for Bruce Dern — a Hollywood veteran who has appeared in a lot of iconic films but who has never won an Oscar — I have a feeling that he’ll be winning a lot of other awards before the Oscar season has ended.