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Short summary

Martin, the night watchman, arrives with the setting sun in his rumbling blue Chevrolet. The cemetery mascots, EI Negro y La Negra, chase his truck down the road and greet him with wagging ... See full summary
Martin, the night watchman, arrives with the setting sun in his rumbling blue Chevrolet. The cemetery mascots, EI Negro y La Negra, chase his truck down the road and greet him with wagging tails. The sound of construction fades away as the daytime workers leave and Martin is left alone, looking out over the skyline of mausoleums where Mexico's most notorious drug lords lie at rest. Crosses and steel construction bars pierce the purple and pink sky. As night descends luxurious cars fill the dirt roads. Mercedes, a sexy young widow, arrives with her little girl in a pristine white Audi. A portrait of her husband, a corrupt policeman holding a machine gun, watches over them as they sweep and mop the shiny marble floors. The coconut vendor's radio blasts a gory list of the day's murders: "Culiacán has become a war zone." The buzz of cicadas fills the air with anticipation. Through Martin's vigilant eyes we watch time pass in this place where time stands still.

Trailers "El Velador (2011)"

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: Xava
    A portrait of a cemetery in Mexico, being quickly filled by the young victim's of Mexico's drug wars on both the police and gangster side.

    Beautifully shot, and told completely observationally (there are a few lines of narration from the night watchman of the cemetery, the titular figure). Mostly there are just the images, and the endless, horrific news reports on radio and TV of more and more killings.

    It took me a while to settle into this. At first its seeming lack of focus or 'plot' making it slow going. But there was a powerful accumulative effect, so by the end it's a deeply sad and disturbing piece about the loss of a generation, and a country caught in what amounts to a civil war. As we see a woman (wife?) of a slain policeman return day after day to wash his elaborate tomb, or hear the screams of loss from a mother in the distance as we watch workmen create more and more concrete graves we are taken inside a desperate way of life that is almost unimaginable to those of us lucky enough to live safe, middle-class lives.
  • comment
    • Author: SmEsH
    Seldom have I seen such a touching, perfect view of a world full of atrocities seen through the eyes of a simple grave caretaker. I won't give anything away in saying that the violence in Mexico is so horrible, becoming so common place, that the dead are mourned in such a way as to denigrate the living, for the dead are cared for like princes. Watching this saddened me to no end. The film making is exquisite and the world she brings us is horrific, but I hope everyone can see this masterwork. It is a good work about bad things. This is good work in a difficult time and I revere the sincere way the Director presented such a work in a subdued and sublime manner. I wish the director the best and hope she can work on something happier next time.
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