The Inheritors (Eugenio Polgovsky, 2008): Mexico

Reviewed by Chloe Seaman. Viewed at The Santa Barbara Film Festival.

The Inheritors (Los Herederos) is a documentary that shows children working in Mexico. It shows several different kids in different areas of work. There are a group of kids that work in the fields, gathering all kinds of vegetables; there are some kids that work in the forest gathering wood, and some in construction. They work in large groups, in pairs, or just alone but the work they do is tedious and tiring.

This was a very interesting film because there were barely any words spoken and very little music played. Having just the sounds of reality was an effect that helped the film to not be biased.  The only thing the filmmakers wanted to show was how life really was for these children – without any kind of opinion. It just showed you the facts with beautiful moving shots; letting you think anything you want of the meaning behind it. There was some storyline to it though. There were times when it would show the elders of the community; with close ups of wrinkled skin and weathered hands, then cut quickly back to the kids working. This showed the story of how the work techniques and ethic have been passed from elder to child, generation to generation. And that one day the kids will pass down what they know to their kids.

When there was music, it came on very abruptly and in the wrong places. There is one part – a short scene of a little boy painting his carvings – when some very fast, strong music comes on that was really distracting. You get so used to the peaceful quiet sounds of nature, that when there was music, it was completely distracting and all you are waiting for is the quietness again.

It was also too long and repetitive. It seems that the long shots of a kid chopping plants down in a field or the repeated scenes of kids gathering wood was a way to convey the monotonous work these kids do, but overall the film could have been cut down shorter and the same meaning still would have been conveyed.

The style of the camera work was very well done and it was obvious that the cameramen knew how to shoot a documentary. They tracked the right things at the right time and when there was more than one action going on, they knew what to focus on. There were some very long shots as well as close ups and times when the camera was just still. The variety of shots and the fluid movement of documenting reality helped to add some visual interest. One of the first shots is a tracking shot of kids running through the forest where the camera is down low, the movement is fluid and from that shot I knew this wouldn’t be a traditional documentary.  

Overall, this film was interesting for a while, but it got to be repetitive and kind of boring.