499 movie review

MOVIE TITLE: 499

The film opens in New York on August 20, LA on August 27, and San Francisco on September 3 before rolling out nationwide.

You can see all the cinema locations and dates here.

RATING: R (profanity & violence)

LENGTH: 1 hour 27 minutes

IN A NUTSHELL:

To reflect on the 500-year anniversary of the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 2021, director Rodrigo Reyes offers a bold hybrid cinema experience exploring the brutal legacy of colonialism in contemporary Mexico. Through the eyes of a ghostly conquistador, the film recreates Hérnan Cortés’ epic journey from the coasts of Veracruz to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, the site of contemporary Mexico City. As the anachronistic fictional character interacts with real-life victims of Mexico’s failed drug wars and indigenous communities in resistance, the filmmaker portrays the country’s current humanitarian crisis as part of a vicious and unfinished colonial project, still in motion, nearly five hundred years later.

Provocative, unique, and strikingly cinematic, 499 mixes non-fictional and performative elements with elements of the road movie to show how past traumas continue to affect contemporary reality. While linking these seemingly disparate histories of violence, the film confirms Reyes as one of the most potent voices in American independent cinema.

THINGS I LIKED:

The director has found an intriguing way to present both a documentary and feature film at the same time.
I love that the soldier spoke with a Spanish accent from Spain, where he would have come from, which is different from how they speak in Mexico. I lived in Spain for 2 years!
I was interested in reviewing this unique film because I was an exchange student in Mexico back when I was in high school. I have a special love for Mexico and its people.
Truly beautiful cinematography.
You get to travel to several different regions of Mexico.
What’s entertaining is to see this ancient soldier wandering around Mexico and interacting with modern-day people, cars, food, etc.
It’s interesting to hear about the violence of the conquerors and then see how the violence has continued in Mexico in various ways in modern days.
The film is one of astounding contrasts. The soldier talks of the glory and beauty of the past as we see ugly landfills and other scars of the land in Mexico. Another contrast is when we hear the soldier explain how he conquered the land in the name of God, yet also admit how he enslaved the native Indians and brutally murdered them as a Christian.
The movie leaves you with a sad, haunting feeling that is quite powerful.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

The appeal of this film will, sadly, be limited.
There are two narrators.
Rather than focus on all of the negative aspects of Mexico, it would have been nice to end with some inkling of hope of a better, future Mexico.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Spanish and an Indian dialect are spoken the entire time with subtitles that have to be read
You see a topless woman pole dancing at a strip bar.
You see a man standing at a urinal in a bathroom.
You see a dead animal being chopped up.
Some profanity and crude language, including F-bombs (written in subtitles and spoken in Spanish)
You see guns, swords, and other weapons
Descriptions of terrible violence