August Evening

August Evening is a small film that pays off with big dividends. Celebrating some bright as well as dull aspects of multicultural existence the film as made by Chris Eska, functioning as multi-hyphenate writer/director/editor, entices audiences with nuanced performances. The emphasis is on atmosphere and ethnic portrayals with non-actors pulling off some astute moves.
When the film screened at the local museum a couple of months ago, Eska surprised the audience by hinting how little was spent making the film. All sorts of camera favors and deferred payments as well as the casting of non-SAG actors were crucial to actually producing a film at that expense. Eska seems in tune with the Mexican experience because all of August Evening revolves around an elderly undocumented worker Jamie (euphemism for illegal alien played by Pedro Castaneda) and how he gets shuffled around from relative to situation. Accompanying him is his daughter-in-law, recently widowed (Veronica Loren as Lupe) and their relationship, one of respect and sharing chores, provides the core of the movie.
In some sense there's the feeling that Eska is like the Luke Wilson character in Bottle Rocket, instead of an Anglo being enamored with a mujer soltera he's obsessed with an entire culture. It's a vivid picture of how people (Jamie's daughter with her upscale middle class life for instance) will deny their heritage for a short term gain. There's also a bit of navel gazing when you consider how much of the film occurs over characters eating dinner or snacks. Eska wants you to ask questions, like why does Lupe always carry around a guitar yet we never see her strum, play or even take it out of its case? It's all part of the plan. the plan to make a little movie with style. The titles speaks volumes about the film, August Evening is like being particularly mellow on a midsummer night.
In limited engagements August Evening is currently unwinding at the the Angelika Film Center in Houston and Cinema Latino in Pasadena, a theater that specializes in Spanish language films.