Rural Mexico: A weirdly charming look at the past

Is it worth your time?

If you like old, grainy footage of people doing manual labor in the sun, sure. It’s a total snooze if you want drama or a plot, but if you’re into history or just like watching people haul giant sea turtles around, you’ll find something to latch onto.

It’s definitely not for the people who need a high-octane edit. My brain started wandering halfway through the Mazatlán segment, honestly.

The vibe is just... specific

There’s this weird, disjointed rhythm to these old shorts. One second we’re watching someone harvest coconuts, and then we’re suddenly in a market in Toluca. It’s like the editor was working on a really tight deadline and just threw in whatever film was in the bin.

The narration is so stiff it’s almost funny. The guy talking sounds like he’s trying to be profound about a pile of pottery, which is a choice.

Moments that stuck

• That moment in the market where everyone is just staring at the camera. You can tell they have no idea why they are being filmed.
• The sea turtle scene. It’s a bit jarring to see, definitely not something you’d catch in a modern travel ad.
• The architecture in Taxco is genuinely pretty, even through the scratchy film stock.

Watching this made me think about A Factory Magdalen in a weird, roundabout way. Both films are just snapshots of a world that’s totally gone now, captured in that weird, slightly detached way people used to document 'exotic' locations.

It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a time capsule. Just don't expect it to actually explain anything about the culture. It’s more of a 'look at this' than a 'here is what this means.'

Also, the music. Oh boy. It tries so hard to be 'Mexican' in a very stereotypical 1940s Hollywood way. It’s distracting, really. I think I preferred the silence when the music cut out for a second to show a wide shot of the hills. 🌵