A History of Love and War

This outrageous comedy stages a soap opera of epic proportions, as one corrupt property developer faces trial for Mexico's violent history. The fourth feature from Santiago Mohar Volkow, Una historia de amor y guerra centres on real estate baron Pepe Sánchez-Campo, whose mega-mall development brings him into conflict with local guerrillas. For once, bribery and a call to Daddy might not be enough to save Pepe – a character more grotesque than the telenovela unfolding around him. Trying to sabotage Pepe's marriage to Constanza, her cousin and lover Teo records Pepe cheating. The resulting chaos precipitates in a burlesque bloodbath involving treachery, talking animals, colonial history and bartering in the afterlife. Una historia de amor y guerra creates something new and a bit naughty, an anarchic silliness from a fresh voice in Mexican cinema. Mohar Volkow mixes allusions to classical art and period costumes with NSYNC ringtones, reaching beyond satire to condemn the ongoing legacies of corruption and colonisation since conquest. As the narrator describes, “history happens first as a tragedy and then as farce... afterwards comes comedy, then the absurd, and finally horror.” The filmmaker here stirs in a healthy portion of each. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)