When Iliana Sosa’s grandfather, Julian Moreno, turned 89, he stopped traveling from Mexico to El Paso, Texas, where Sosa’s mother lives. In her documentary What We Leave Behind, his granddaughter follows Moreno to his home in Durango, Mexico, to watch him embark on her final project. It is to build a house next to the house where his children who immigrated to America may return home. .
In a more elegiac approach than sociological, the director presents the passage of almost seven years, with evidence of new building progress and Moreno’s decline. He shovels a little. He fry eggs starting with fried eggs and ending with scrambled eggs. He has one plank, but he’s angry that he can’t have two. Introducing the quad stick.
What We Leave Behind eschews political policy and pays homage to the poetics of life. love for his land. Loyalty to his son Jorge, who is legally blind and lives with him. as well as his belief in hard work. His face bears the imprint of the handsome young man depicted on the ID card he used. Bracero — After World War II, it issued temporary work permits for agricultural workers to come to the United States.
The composition is calm, but never quiet. This documentary trusts a piece of beauty. Jorge’s green bristle broom rests on the courtyard floor as he listens. A once stout man lay in bed with his family surrounding him. “What We Leave Behind” asserts the power of stillness and the poignancy of staying away.
what we left
Unrated. Running time: 1 hour 11 minutes.in theaters etc. netflix.