The Desert Within
Encyclopedia
The Desert Within is a 2008
Spanish language
religion
themed drama film
, written and directed by Uruguayan
-born Mexican
film-maker Rodrigo Plá
. The film was inspired by the diaries of the Christian existentialist philosopher Søren Kierkegaard
. It won seven awards at the 2008 Guadalajara International Film Festival
. The film incorporates animation
and art
as bookends to each series of events in the film.
The title of the film is drawn from Nietzsche's epigraph about acknowledging uncertainty: "The desert grows, and woe to him who conceals the desert within him..."
's Cristero War
, which took place between 1926 and 1929, when the Mexican government banned Catholicism
and persecuted its followers. Clergy are separated from their congregations and worship is forbidden.
Elias, the central character of the film, follows his wife's wishes by seeking out a priest to perform the last rites on their unborn son, whom she fears will die due to a fall she sustained. Upon finding one, he manages to persuade the priest to return with him to the village to perform the last rites, despite putting the safety of the community at risk. The Federales
follow the pair and kill every man, woman and child in the village. Elias's family are able to escape, although his wife dies while giving birth to their son.
Captured, Elias realises he is responsible for the deaths of his entire community and begs the priest for forgiveness before his execution. The priests says he is unable to do so and curses Elias's bloodline. Elias escapes and becomes obsessed with the concept of atoning for his sin. He moves his remaining seven children to the desert where they begin to build a monument to God. As his children begin to die through illness and accident, Elias maintains that God has forsaken him and his religious beliefs turn from reverence to homicidal and take over his and his children’s lives.
wrote the screenplay with his wife, commenting on the story and themes as follows:
in 2009.
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
themed drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
, written and directed by Uruguayan
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
-born Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
film-maker Rodrigo Plá
Rodrigo Plá
Rodrigo Plá is a Uruguay screenwriter and director.He is known for his 2007 film La Zona , studied photography, screenwriting and direction at the Centro de capacitacion cinematogrfica in Mexico City, where he has lived since he was 11...
. The film was inspired by the diaries of the Christian existentialist philosopher Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard was a Danish Christian philosopher, theologian and religious author. He was a critic of idealist intellectuals and philosophers of his time, such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling and Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel...
. It won seven awards at the 2008 Guadalajara International Film Festival
Guadalajara International Film Festival
The Guadalajara International Film Festival is a week-long film festival held each March in the Mexican city of Guadalajara. The festival is considered the most prestigious film festival in Latin America and among the most important Spanish language film festivals in the world...
. The film incorporates animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
and art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
as bookends to each series of events in the film.
The title of the film is drawn from Nietzsche's epigraph about acknowledging uncertainty: "The desert grows, and woe to him who conceals the desert within him..."
Plot
The film is set against the backdrop of MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
's Cristero War
Cristero War
The Cristero War of 1926 to 1929 was an uprising and counter-revolution against the Mexican government in power at that time. The rebellion was set off by the strict enforcement of the anti-clerical provisions of the Mexican Constitution of 1917 and the expansion of further anti-clerical laws...
, which took place between 1926 and 1929, when the Mexican government banned Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
and persecuted its followers. Clergy are separated from their congregations and worship is forbidden.
Elias, the central character of the film, follows his wife's wishes by seeking out a priest to perform the last rites on their unborn son, whom she fears will die due to a fall she sustained. Upon finding one, he manages to persuade the priest to return with him to the village to perform the last rites, despite putting the safety of the community at risk. The Federales
Federales
Federales is a short term for the Mexican Federal Police or any of its predecessors, including the Federal Investigations Agency or the Federal Preventive Police. The term gained widespread usage by English-speakers due to popularization in such films as The Wild Bunch, The Treasure of the Sierra...
follow the pair and kill every man, woman and child in the village. Elias's family are able to escape, although his wife dies while giving birth to their son.
Captured, Elias realises he is responsible for the deaths of his entire community and begs the priest for forgiveness before his execution. The priests says he is unable to do so and curses Elias's bloodline. Elias escapes and becomes obsessed with the concept of atoning for his sin. He moves his remaining seven children to the desert where they begin to build a monument to God. As his children begin to die through illness and accident, Elias maintains that God has forsaken him and his religious beliefs turn from reverence to homicidal and take over his and his children’s lives.
Themes
Rodrigo PláRodrigo Plá
Rodrigo Plá is a Uruguay screenwriter and director.He is known for his 2007 film La Zona , studied photography, screenwriting and direction at the Centro de capacitacion cinematogrfica in Mexico City, where he has lived since he was 11...
wrote the screenplay with his wife, commenting on the story and themes as follows:
The primary idea is generated from the reading of the philosopher Søren KierkegaardSøren KierkegaardSøren Aabye Kierkegaard was a Danish Christian philosopher, theologian and religious author. He was a critic of idealist intellectuals and philosophers of his time, such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling and Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel...
, particularly where it accounts for daily life. Kierkegaard's father lived with the conviction that God would punish him by taking away their children prematurely for a sin he had committed.
The existence of Kierkegaard was marked by the guilt and the image of a vengeful and wrathful God. This essence is preserved in the film, but we decided to change the original context, Protestant and Danish, to Mexican and Catholic. The completion of the script was a very long process, where it was severely restructured, one to contextualize the story in Mexico, and another to define the structure into chapters. The Cristiada topic is very interesting and seductive, but that was not our subject, our story was of that family, that guilt, that punishment, that madness.
The Cristero War within the film works more as a backdrop to the theme itself. We knew what we wanted to tell and the characteristics that we overlaid the religious conflict with were ripe to justify certain events which were the substance of our story: the lack of priests in the country and therefore a clear spiritual guide, the prohibition of public worship and the closure of churches, religious exacerbation, all this gave credibility to certain aspects needed in our history. Religion, or more specifically religious fanaticism, it is one of the themes of the film. Atheists or believers, all in some point in life we stand before God, the existence of God. Moreover, religion is a cultural determinant which also flows through us, like it or not, we live in a Judeo-Christian society and our morals are largely structured by it. The notions of our sin and guilt touch everyone in varying degrees. Religion is a controversial and difficult subject, precisely because it is deeply human, and that is why it seemed interesting to raise questions about that.
For us the Desert Within is a film about men, not God, and it is men who largely built his fortune or misfortune, as in this case. If God punishes or forgives is no longer relevant, it is Elias, the central character, who can not forgive himself, and that guilt is sick, that determination to devote their and their children to an authoritarian and oppressive life to seek redemption, which is destroying the family. There may be other interpretations, hopefully they exist, if there are different readings then the movie provides good entertainment.
We like to think that the Desert Within speaks not only of religious fanaticism, but could be a mirror of other types of fanaticism, the capacity for destruction that lurks behind any idea or thought that stands in a totalitarian manner, which respects not the possibility of dissent and ultimately imposes itself with force, whether physical or psychological. Even if that idea is put forward as something allegedly good for everyone. That is what ultimately happens to Elias, he is unable to question the truth, his truth, it is final and that is how, on behalf of the entire family, he chooses a lifestyle, a form of death and a way to God without taking into account the desire of the children. If this is so, if in some way it can be seen as a metaphor, then we believe that even being a period film, the Desert Within can have an echo in contemporary issues.
Awards
The film was awarded the best film prize at the Lleida Latin-American Film FestivalLleida Latin-American Film Festival
The Lleida Latin-American Film Festival is a cinema festival that takes place in Lleida, Spain awarding Latin American films. It is organised by the Latin American Centre of Lleida and is sponsored by the city council , the University of Lleida and La Caixa...
in 2009.