Filmmaker Aaron Schock hits the road with Gran Circo México, a family of contortionists, stunt riders, clowns and animal trainers who have been travelling the back roads of Mexico for generations. Music by Calexico.
A touching chronicle of a dying culture harnessed to ambitions that remain very much alive.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2011
Circo 2010
Schock captures the beauty of the performance traditions they uphold, while a rousing Calexico soundtrack rejoices in the romantic mix of flight and longing that is a life on the road. But the film is also attentive to the inherent family dramas: ringmaster Tino’s children have absorbed his love of the hardscrabble circus life to varying degrees, but for his wife, Ivonne – a town girl who fell for the dashing circus boy – the romance has come at a cost. — BG
“Gilliam-esque whimsy meets the evening redness of Peckinpah’s West in a dusky gem of a documentary... Switching back and forth between the weightless beauty of the big-top and the parlous financial and familial situation backstage, it’s a crisply shot, emotionally frank and genuinely moving glimpse into a way of life that has become almost too fragile to continue.” — Adam Lee Davies, Time Out
“‘The circus is tough and beautiful,’ says one talking head in Aaron Schock’s documentary… It’s an apt description of the film itself, a riveting patchwork of interconnected family dramas – difficult in-laws, money-driven arguments, the tensions between honoring family tradition and forging one's own path. Schock’s camera – he does lovely work as the cinematographer – follows the Ponce family (who’ve been in the circus biz for more than 100 years) as they tackle the vagaries of a life that’s intrinsically hard-knock, all while working toward a final image that's both triumphant and sad.” — Ernest Hardy, LA Weekly