Perhaps Rita is the cleaning lady for the church, or perhaps she is a lady who voluntarily brings cleaning supplies to the church to clean. She badly tries to be helpful and wants a miracle. The film appears to end after 30 minutes. Credits roll and we seem to have an ending. But then it starts up again, emphasizing that the line between reality and the spiritual is a little fuzzy.
Argentinian Tomás Gómez Bustillo is both the writer and director of this quirky, magical realism film that is divided into two parts. The first details Rita’s mundane existence in a poor, dirt road rural area in Argentina where she easily witnesses the combustible life of her neighbors through her window. At her Catholic Church in town, she finds a statue of a nun holding a crown of thorns stored in a back room. Could this be a sign of … something?
I’m not saying I understood all the literal parts of the story or even the more spiritual dimensions. But Monica Villa, as Rita, plays an outstandingly humble, quiet wife and church member. After she hits a bump in the dirt road with an almost humorous consequence, the credits roll, signally the end of the story.
But wait! Bustillo brings us back for almost an hour more, investigating the second part of Rita’s life. Here he captures a transformation.
Bustillo gives the dead little halos and a motorcycle representative of Hell special little horns on the top of his head. When a person is ready to ascend into Heaven, the character glows.
Bustillo, a long way from home, is a visiting professor at the Vermont College for Fine Arts in Montpelier, Vermont’s capitol. He has an MFA degree from the American Film Institute Conservatory in Los Angelos, though his initial studies in Buénos Aires were in political science. Having lived in Argentina, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and the US, Bustillo has a unique perspective on myths, religion, love, community, and what indeed is reality.
“Chronicles of a Wandering Saint” is Bustillo’s first feature film. It earned multiple awards on the festival circuit and was nominated for three Film Independent Spirit Awards — Best First Feature, Best First Screenplay and Best Cinematography.
What is surprising about “Chronicles” is that a man, Bustillo, is able to capture the essential dutiful, saintly nature of women. Rita, representing so many women, especially those in traditional communities, became so wedded to servanthood for her husband and church that she could not see her own sainthood within.
Credits
Director/Writer: Tomás Gómez Bustillo
Producers: Gewan Brown and Amanda Freedman
Executive Producers: Gewan Brown, Doriane Desfaugeres, Samir Oliveros, RJ Glass, and Ciro Apicella
Cast: Monica Villa, Horacio Anibal Marassi
Director of Photography: Pablo Lozano
Production Designer: Doriane Desfaugeres
Editor: Benjamin Tolentino
Associate Producer: Geronimo Coldesina
Costume Designer: Margarita Franco
Composer: Felipe Delsart
Sound Design: Andres Velazquez
Release: Opens in NYC, June 28 at IFC Center; in LA on July 5 at Lumiere Cinema and LA Weekend Screenings at American Cinematheque; and in Seattle on July 6 at Grand Illusion
Website and How to View: https://www.chroniclesofawanderingsaint.com/
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