La Sirga (William Vega, 2012): Columbia/France/Mexico

Reviewed by Jacob Dekker.  Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival 2013.

The way this film was shot, it reminded me a lot of No Country for Old Men.  I decided to write a summary with a style similar, and far less superior, to Cormac MacCarthy (the author of the book No Country for Old Men).  The film had some great mise-en-scene and cinematography, but the plot was convoluted and incoherent.  Hopefully this piece reflects that.  I included this introduction just in case does not.

A boat paddles through a still lake.   The oars slap against the water in calming rhythm.  Fog obstructs the view of the young man rowing the boat, but his heart is beating just as steady as the oars hit the water.  He passes by some gruesome scenes, but he remains unfazed.  On his right he passes by an impaled body, left there to rot to make an example.  But the man rowing continues at the same pace.

Something catches his eye.  The reeds rustle back and forth.  The sound grabs the young man’s attention.  He moves the oars quicker, and the water laps against the paddles even louder.  He glides across the water getting closer, and closer, and closer until he sees small feet.  A girl! He paddles up to her and pulls her into the boat.  At first, neither of them exchange a word to each other.

I am looking for my uncle, she asks in Spanish.

The boy smiles warmly, and leads her into a small two story cabin sitting by the lake.  Her foot breaks through a piece of wood on the porch.  The wood is rotting, the roof is leaking, and the house creaks and cries in agony every time someone finds refuge in it.  It’s an inn, they tell her.

The girl wakes up on the couch with red and green quilts pulled over her.  A big man pulls a chair up next to her.

Uncle? She asks rubbing her eyes.

Maybe, he says in a gruff voice, while rolling up his sleeves.

She explains herself using as few words as possible and asks if he can stay at the inn to hide for a couple of weeks, and the man reluctantly agrees.  As a trade off she will help the maid rebuild the inn to its former glory.  A few weeks go by and she exchanges as few words as possible with her uncle, the maid, or the boatman but she proves herself to be an asset.

The maid rests the ladder against the side of house and motions her to climb up.  The cabin cries cries in pain with every step up the ladder.  The winded started to pick up and rain started falling.  The maid passed a blue tarp up to the girl.  The rain hit the sheet metal making a pitter patter sound.  The wind followed causing the loose metal to twang.

The wood ladder under her feet was rotting but she spread the tarp anyway.

She wakes up with a cold, and heads downstairs.  An unfamiliar man is cooking behind the counter.  He tries to be friendly with her, but still she stays reserved.

I’m your cousin, he says.  Your uncle is my father.

She nods in acknowledgment and walks outside to help the maid fix up the hotel.

The rotting wood has been replaced.  Glass window panes have been added, the roof has been patched, and plants have been added around the inn.  The girl smiles, but her uncle walks out without taking a second look and unties a boat off the dock.

I like what you have done to the inn, the boatman says as he paddled up to the dock.  The girl smiles again.

I made this for you, the young man hands her a carved wooden doll.  The lake is quiet and so is the girl.  She accepts the doll, but remains quiet.  He leads her on his boat, and they paddled around the lake.  He cousin watches from behind the pane glass window.

The young man rows up to the inn again the next day, and calls for the girl.  The girl meets him outside, and he hands her another carved doll.

What’s her name? She asked carefully looking at the doll.

Alicia, he says with a smile.  The girls cousin stood on the porch watching them.  As the young man handed her the doll she looked back at the inn and pushed his boat out into the water.  The young man stood at the end of the boat with doll in his outstretched hand.  She smiled and returned to the inn.

The lake is calm for the next couple of days.  The inn is open for business, but no one has checked in.  The young man watches over the lake with a wooden spike driven through his body.  Fog obscures him until he disappears.