Day seven’s following screening was a film that I had wanted to see even before they announced the selections for the Un Certain Regard – while I’m a huge fan of his first feature Sangre (which also played in the section), unfortunately Amat Escalante‘s second film didn’t do much for me as it is easily comparable to re-doing Haneke‘s Funny Games for a different setting. Filmed in a style that aesthetically resembles many Mexican productions that have populated Cannes over the years, from the intro title card and accompanying crazed music, to the fact that this is heightened sense of violence and to the fact that this is a home invasion, Los Bastardos comes across as an empty vessel instead of an enlarged window on the difficulties of the immigrant experience. Escalante was on hand for the first 11:00 a.m. screening.
