(re)Search my Trash

<body> <div align="left"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" width="800" cellpadding="0" height="100%"> <tr> <td width="100" rowspan="2" background="../stylepix/square.gif" valign="top">  </td> <td width="4" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="592" valign="top"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" width="592"> <tr> <td width="100%">  </td> </tr> </table>    <p>The Mexican-Belize border, the 1920s: With gum having become a valued commodity, a motley crew led by Auscencio (Gilberto Barraza) has been sent into the jungle to extract gum from the trees - in itself a rather dangerous job as the gum workers need to cut open the trees at great heights with only minimal precautions, so the occasional deaths from great falls are to be reckoned with. The whole thing's made all the more dangerous though as a rival crew of Englishmen is said to harvest gum as well, and they're armed and try to make the territory theirs. But also certain tensions have arisen among the group itself as they've been out there away from civilisation for too long. And then they stumble upon Agnes (Indira Rubie Andrewin), a woman on the run from her slaver who has already lost her fellow escapees (Shantai Obispo, Cornelius McLaren) and is pretty much lost in the jungle. Not knowing what to do with her, Auscensio lets her join the crew, also because she's dressed as a nurse - and she doesn't speak her language to tell them it was only a dress-up to escape her pursuers. Also the men at first treat her like a prisoner, as after all she, only speaking English, might be a spy of the Englishmen. But she brings unrest to the group, as the men, having been among themselves for months, all lust after her, and she soon starts to learn about the effect she has on the men and uses them to her advantage - and like in the legend about the demon Xtabay (that's recited throughout the movie), she brings doom to the men (but also their enemies) one by one by one ...<p> <p>A pretty powerful film that's brought to life by archaic imagery - which is of course greatly helped by its jungle settings - used to tell a story of mythical strength that though forms the myths in the minds of the audience while the on-screen happenings remain very down to earth. And the film's deliberately slow pace with long takes only help to let the film unfold its full potential, as are the very subdued performances of all involved. <p>  </td> <td width="4" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="100" rowspan="2" background="../stylepix/squareright.gif" valign="top">  </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="592" valign="top">  <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript"> currentyear = "2020"; </SCRIPT> <SCRIPT language="JavaScript" src="../scripts/endcredits.js"></SCRIPT> <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript"> dosworsdonn(); </SCRIPT> </td> </tr> </table> </div> </body>