The annual National Pyrotechnic Festival in Tultepec, Mexico, is the setting for filmmaker Viktor Jakovleski’s dreamlike documentary about the town’s complete immersion in a mad celebration called the Day of the Bulls. A roving camera captures sometimes harrowing images of locals involved in the 10-day run-up to this literally explosive day. Adults and children alike handle combustible elements for hours at a time, creating firecrackers and fireworks by the thousands. Evidence of past accidents is not hard to spot: there’s an old man with an amputated hand, and a woman grieving the loss of a son due to a fiery accident (she talks about this even as she helps prepare for the next Day of the Bulls--paid work that she needs because jobs are scarce). Huge papier-mâché bulls loaded with fireworks are rolled down streets, creating the potential for sudden conflagration. While a town’s tradition clearly plays a large part in these dangerous activities, there is also a sense that the community is enslaved to a deadly ritual that not everyone wants. An oddball documentary, Brimstone & Glory tells a strange and haunting true story. Extras include interviews with Jakovleski and artist Amauri Sanabria Urbán. Recommended Aud: C, P (T. Keogh)
Brimstone & Glory
(2017) 67 min. In Spanish w/English subtitles. DVD: $34.99, Blu-ray: $39.99. Oscilloscope (avail. from most distributors). Volume 33, Issue 3
Brimstone & Glory
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