Eeff: Potosi

A sprawling, multi-layered thriller in the mould of Amores Perros.

Alfredo Castruita’s debut centres on an accident on a deserted road in the hinterland of Mexico, connecting the stories of a peaceful 82 year old goat herder, a woman who is a victim of horrific domestic violence, and a peasant man trying to defend his family from the government’s increasingly violent war on organised crime.

Potosí, the name of towns in both Mexico and Bolivia, is cleverly drawn as being no place in particular. Instead acting as a stand in for violent forces found in various parts of Latin America, Castruita’s film is a tale of blood soaked crossfire, and the lives it leaves behind. A lynching, a murder and a kidnapping all play a part in this sweeping, tragic tale of violence and development.