Canoa: A Shameful Memory (1976)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Pretty Good

An Exercise In Nonsense

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

For a knowledgeable viewer, there is no doubt that "Canoa" has become a major classic film due to various artistic as well as political reasons. It was one of the first films in the history of Mexican cinema to show that even history especially historical events can be given a fictional form. While watching "Canoa" one can easily understand how Christian religion especially catholic church was unjustly misused for one's personal gains.The use of a local character to narrate important facts and story works very well for "Canoa". A viewer is able to get detailed visual information of events which were responsible for horrible lynching of some youngsters by an irate mob. Authenticity seems to be this film's hallmark as viewers are likely to feel as if tragic events had taken place in their midst. For this reason, Felipe Cazals chose to depict important events through a time prism. Lastly, there are moments when a human body can withstand any amount of blows. One such moment was shown in Canoa when a doctor is utterly surprised to find a victim of violence in good shape. Director Felipe Cazals has always made films which have cast a poignant look at negative aspects of Mexican nation. His films need to be discovered by viewers if they wish to learn more about Mexican society. Hence, for this reason any effort to appreciate Canoa can be called a good start.

A person is able to change its judgment, a mob is already executing the sentence. In this movie, innocent people were judged as guilty of communism, which in certain places, is almost a declaration of allegiance to the devil. And the sentence was carried..There are no surprises on this film. From the first moment you saw the cover, you knew there was going to be murder. The main point of the movie is the way the murders occur, and for what reasons.You can see ignorance and fear at its peak here. At the front you will notice the liquor bottles in the hands of the killers. You will see the crowd with no mind of its own, but blindly charging against those the priest accuses.I personally find the scene where the mob enters Lucas's house the most terrifying. Several people start beating the young men, while their partners, who'll soon be victims, look at them, evidently terrified, noticing that they won't be able to do anything against the insane rage the villagers carry.They are dragged like animals, and then beaten by the entire crowd, who humiliates them, all the while yelling "Communists!" at them.This movie is sickening, but a must-see. It shows, very clearly- perhaps too clearly- the terrible dangers of fanatism, fear, and above all, ignorance.

This film is part of the beginning of the New Mexican Cinema, based in a true story and made like an example of the uncertain time in Mexico after 1968 and how can be influenced a entire town against a group of people whom their only sin was; be a student.

I live in in Mexico and this movie was censored long time.It is a great movie and represents the reality of 1968 in mexico.