Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths – A Baffling Opus

Bardo or Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths is quite the film, unnecessarily long running time aside. Setting audiences back nearly 3 hours, that runtime will surely be a point of contention in an otherwise already divisive film. A passion project for Oscar-winning director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, the film undoubtedly means well but in spite of this, it is definitely out there therefore those intentions could get drowned out by its many eccentricities to put it lightly. Ultimately, its lives or dies on whether or not those audiences can connect on an emotional level with those intentions as the film serves as an introspection of Iñárritu’s complicated relationship with his former homeland of Mexico. That being said, it certainly does not hold back in its criticism of it though the way it goes about it often feels gratuitous in its over-the-top set pieces and its lyrical and dream-like presentation could come off as pretentious as it jumps around irrespective of time and space. In the end, where the film truly shines is on a technical level. Not only does it look beautiful, it sounds just as good while the editing effortlessly weaves from one scene to the next. Grounding it all is a charismatic lead performance from Daniel Giménez Cacho who is essentially an analog for Iñárritu.

Bardo follows a famed journalist turned documentary filmmaker named Silverio (Giménez Cacho) who goes on an introspective journey reconciling with his identity through the lens of his relationship with his former homeland of Mexico after being thrust into the spotlight following the news that he would be receiving a journalism award. Meanwhile, as much as the film was about Silverio, it was also about his family and their arc over the course of the story. Not liking where his country was going, he and his wife Lucia (Siciliani) moved their family to Los Angeles but this attention meant going back to visit family and other people from his past. Taking a look back at his life and his works, Silverio’s films, one being False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, covered the history of Mexico and its people in an often extravagant way that favored feeling over historical accuracy. A lot those extravagant sequences showed up over the course of the film while both distracting from their original point and going on far too long and adding to it’s overlong running time. Getting old pretty fast, the film was at its best when it dove deeper into Silverio the man and his family.

Despite offering plenty of silly flourishes as well, this part of the story was a lot more interesting to watch. Silverio’s backstory adds some much needed context but the film relies so heavily on broad strokes with those silly sequences that it may be lost on some audiences. His views on Mexico were controversial as they did not take his criticism fondly and viewed themselves as stepping stools to his success. Upon moving he and his family to the United States, Silverio was seen as more American than Mexican as a means to discredit him. Not the most comfortable in the spotlight, he had to face it all as he in his career were on display as both came full circle. His daughter Camila (Lamadrid) and his son Lorenzo (Solano) were also growing up very fast in the midst of it all as well, leaning more towards the American part of their heritage, that contrast made for some interesting perspective. Their connection with Mexico wasn’t as strong as Silverio’s therefore they had some learning to do in a journey that was also compelling to watch though the limited perspective meant a lot of rushing through that part of the story.

While it may not always be easy to understand or follow, Bardo is indisputably beautiful with some of the best cinematography of the year. The scale and scope are there as it does a formidable job at keeping up with all the insanity. The production design, VFX, and editing do a similar job contributing to that scale and scope. All things considered, that doesn’t change the fact that there is often a lot going on, sometimes way too much. Though the necessity of it is disputable, one can’t help but think what a more straightforward approach would have produced. At the end of the day, what holds the film together is a strong lead performance from Daniel Giménez Cacho who brings some humanity to the proceedings. Much of the potential character depth does get lost amongst everything else going on but despite this, he was still compelling to watch. In fact, the performances were solid across the board.

The much hyped Bardo or Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths may not quite live up to all that hype but it will definitely be divisive in the eyes of audiences that will baffle more than it will dazzle.

still courtesy of Netflix

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.