It’s almost cheating, using a circus as a cinematic backdrop. You have life and death at every turn (lion tamers, tight rope walkers, escape artists suspended upside down while a flame slowly burns the cord they are tethered to, motorcyclists in the Globe of Death), you have humor (well, you have clowns anyway), you have all those bright colors. Is it any wonder filmmakers return to it again and again?
What happens is you get real drama in a setting we haven’t seen before. And by real drama I don’t mean reality TV real. There are disagreements on camera, but there are no histrionics. The people express themselves and their grievances in a dignified way. This is a Latin family? Yes, it is, and if Circo did nothing but undermine the hot-headed Latin stereotype, it would be commendable, but it does much more.
It shows the complexities of the Ponce family without judgment and without insulting the viewers’ intelligence. The children seem to be having a great time when not performing, traveling to the modern equivalent of one-horse towns (one-gas station towns), doing things like tumbling, contorting, and bouncing on top of the big top. But they don’t go to school and there are no on-set tutors. These kids are being trained from the day they’re born to be in the circus and little else. Some might wonder whether the Ponce children are being abused. And it’s questionable whether the Gran Circo Mexico can survive much longer, so are the Ponce parents doing what’s best for the family or blindly following a tradition? And what besides the circus are the Ponce adults capable of doing? This question is addressed in a subplot involving a brother who leaves to marry an outsider and live in the town but can’t deal with the monotony, and so returns to the circus and picks up where he left off. Among other things, he rides the motorcycle in the Globe of Death. (How do you live in a sleepy town after you've ridden in the Globe of Death?) The filmmaker lets us look and answer for ourselves. Thank you, filmmaker.
And yeah, Circo looks beautiful and draws on those stock circus images, but in a new and fresh way, fresh because the string of light bulbs is well worn and shabby, not bright and shiny, the tent stake is pounded into the ground not by the strong man but by a young boy barely capable of lifting the sledgehammer over his head, the circus flag is in taters. As one of the Ponces says: “The circus: It’s tough and beautiful both.”
I was stunned to discover that this is director Aaron Schock’s first feature. He also acted as the producer, cinematographer, and soundman. (What? You couldn’t edit it, too?) Very impressive, Mr. Schock. I look forward to seeing your future work.
And for all you hipsters out there, the soundtrack by Calexico is great, too.
Circo opens April 1, 2011 in NYC. April 8, 2011 in L.A., with theatrical release in other cities to follow. It’s well worth seeing in a theater.