Purgatorio: A Journey Into the Heart of the Border

Purgatorio: A Journey Into the Heart of the Border is an evocative documentary by director Rodrigo Reyes that turns an unflinching eye towards the border between the United States and Mexico. A delicate blend of historical tragedy and current events, this 2013 film passionately articulates a reality that many may not understand or even know about.

The film masterfully uses the border as a metaphorical purgatorium where dreams and despair converging, preserving an atmosphere saturated with struggle between hope and loss. The human stories exposed in this zone straddle both a literal and metaphorical edge, teetering between the dream of prosperity and an often punishing reality.

Purgatorio’s un-narrated style is an intentional choice by Reyes, a means to let the anthropological observations alert the audience without any express directive. It invites viewers to encounter the living conditions, dream chases, heartbreaking sufferings and existential dilemmas of the people affected by the border without an elaborate narration trickling down any unilateral opinions.

The documentary's visual language is as evocative as its narrative pursuits, with Reyes and his cinematographer, Justin Chin, presenting an array of vast, desolate landscapes interspersed with close-ups of human intensity. They grandly portray the harsh geographical realities, barren lands, derelict buildings, and the imposing border fence that scars the heart of the landscape like a painful reminder of the divided worlds. The juxtaposition of these images against close-quarters portraits of the individuals struggling to exist within this environment underscores the juxtaposition of their dreams and current realities.

The film features a vast array of individuals - men and women, rich and poor, old and young – each with their unique experiences and perspectives related to the border. There are drug addicts, immigrants, law enforcement officers, social workers, religious leaders, victims and victimizers, ordinary people in extraordinary situations and figurative angels and demons. Their stories reflect the dichotomy of dreams and harsh realities, the calamities and hope – all this embodying the give and take of life on the border. They illuminate the audience about the severity of the situation in their unique ways, and how their ordinary lives have been fundamentally shaped by this geopolitical boundary.

Purgatorio does not shy away from the brutality that thrives among this borderland purgatory. It showcases the ravages of drug addiction, fatalities that occur during attempts to cross the border, and brutal deaths due to the ongoing drug war. There are moments of severe impact, but Purgatorio also manages to highlight the resilience and compassion among the people living under these circumstances. The idiosyncratic mix of apocalyptic harshness, spiritual philosophizing, and raw human emotions bring a balance of gravity and sensitivity to the film.

Rodrigo Reyes, inspired from Dante's Divine Comedy, envisioned the border region as a passage to hell, purgatory and heaven, and his portrayal of the relationships and hopes of the people involved gives the film a poetic quality. It bears witness to the profound human capacity to persevere, even in the midst of difficult circumstances and questions the very idea of borders and their ethical implications.

Despite the human sides of tragedy and hope, the documentary does not claim to offer any solutions, nor does it propose any policy changes. Instead, it stands as a factual reflection of the social, environmental, political and personal crises that the border represents, compiling the layered anecdotes into a hard-hitting existential indictment of the status quo.

Above all, Purgatorio: A Journey Into the Heart of the Border is a mirror to the soul of humanity, that reflects the fallacious notion of borders as a demarcation of dreams and despair. Its powerful narrative, bolstered by evocative imagery and individual stories, allows audiences to experience an intimate, at times jarring, exploration of one of the most contentious geographical and political spaces in contemporary times. It serves as a narrative monument to the suffering, struggles, dreams and hopes of those who inhabit the region, making it a must watch for those who seek to understand the human implications of geopolitical borders.