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6.4/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.4/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Colorful Guatemala remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
So, I ended up watching this old travel short called Colorful Guatemala last night. If you’re a massive coffee nerd who wants to see how they used to bag beans in the early 20th century, sure, give it a go.
But for anyone else? It’s basically the equivalent of watching paint dry on a very old, very dusty wall.
The whole thing feels like a slideshow some uncle forced you to watch after his trip abroad. Only this uncle is obsessed with agricultural economics.
There is a moment early on where a guy is just... staring at the camera. He looks like he’s never seen a lens before and is waiting for it to bite him.
We get a lot of shots of hillsides. And trees. And then, finally, the coffee.
I swear, they spend about five minutes just showing hands sorting beans. No music, just a weirdly quiet rustling sound that made my cat stare at the TV.
The history part are super light too. It skips over basically everything interesting to get back to the glorious coffee trade.
It’s funny how these old educational films never show anyone actually resting. Everyone is just constantly carrying massive sacks of stuff on their backs with a forced smile.
If you want beautiful scenery from around this era, you should probably just watch The White Flower. It’s got a lot more life to it than this glorified commercial.
In the end, Colorful Guatemala isn't really colorful at all. It’s mostly just brown. Like the coffee, I guess.