There is a semblance of a plot in Carlos Reygadas' "Battle in Heaven" and it may even be an interesting one but it's not the plot that interests Reygadas. He opens (and closes) his film with shots of oral sex and there is a fair bit of explicit sex in the film, mostly between the overweight Marcos and his bosses' attractive daughter, who seems to be some kind of sex worker or between Marcos and his middle-aged and overweight wife. Using people who are not conventionally 'attractive' in 'real' sex scenes seems to be Reygadas' way of saying this is 'real' but, of course, we know it's not; it's a fiction about a couple who kidnap a baby who then dies. The husband, Marcos, then seems to be consumed with guilt, confesses what he's done, commits a murder and then goes on a kind of pilgrimage to purge himself of his sin.
Most film-makers might have concentrated on the kidnapping, cut back on the sex and thrown the pilgrimage in as an afterthought but Reygadas isn't most film-makers. One of Mexico's foremost directors Reygadas takes the germ of an idea and holds it at arms length, often using non-professional actors, as he does here; even the murder feels unreal and, to be honest, a bit pointless, (were it not for this killing we could be watching a documentary). It's superbly shot though the pacing, (and, I'm sure, the sex) won't be to everyone's taste. It is, however, now regarded as something of an art-house classic.
Most film-makers might have concentrated on the kidnapping, cut back on the sex and thrown the pilgrimage in as an afterthought but Reygadas isn't most film-makers. One of Mexico's foremost directors Reygadas takes the germ of an idea and holds it at arms length, often using non-professional actors, as he does here; even the murder feels unreal and, to be honest, a bit pointless, (were it not for this killing we could be watching a documentary). It's superbly shot though the pacing, (and, I'm sure, the sex) won't be to everyone's taste. It is, however, now regarded as something of an art-house classic.