There are some short films it’s hard to talk about, because their nonconformist and metaphorical composition seems incompatible with any kind of more or less critical discourse. ‘HUMANO‘ is such a project that surprises not only through its eclectic imaging material, but also through a textual poetic layer that raises the premises of an experimental film at a higher level. By placing his psychedelic incursion on the edge between a pseudo-documentary and a science fiction hallucination, director Marco Castro Terrazas proposes in his short film a reinterpretation of the Genesis, of the history of humanity generated by the pre-existence of an alien civilization that triggered the terrestrial space’s biological mechanism. Thus, the poetic discourse behind this visual experiment seems to be a declaration of love addressed by our first parents to the whole humanity whose evolution throughout history has placed us either on the highest tops of mental and technological progress or in the deeper precipices of despair and self-destruction.
Therefore, the visual kinetic sequence adopted by the director combines the sci-fi decor with the blurred archive images depicting on a small scale the evolution of the human species on the spiritual or technological level over time (the fall of the Berlin Wall, the take-off of the first rocket or the dervish dance, for example), imitating the convention of a contrasting imaging palimpsest. Similarly, almost surrealist images capturing the agony of burning nature or cosmic landscapes inspired by movies such as ‘The Tree of Life’ by Terrence Malick or ‘Prometheus’ by Ridley Scott complement each other in a homogeneous and complex project that exceeds the limitations of pre-established cinematic genres.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to write the synopsis of this short film, just as the act of summarizing a poem is an useless and paradoxical gesture. The succession of seemingly incompatible frames that harmonize disparate elements taken from different spaces and historical moments is balanced with the epic instrumental music, making Marco Castro Terrazas’ project seem like a preamble to an alternative universal history that might prove us that the truth is neither in the blood uselessly shed on the battlefields, nor in the wonders of modern science, nor in the idols we have worshiped all this time, but in the intensity with which we enjoy the miracle of life. ‘HUMANO’ can thus be received not only as an intelligent experiment that metaphorically renders the evolution of the human being over time, but also as an exciting eulogy about the power of each one to shape our own perception and actions so that we can believe that tomorrow will get us closer to the paradise we all dream of.
For the sensitivity with which it offers a metaphorical interpretation of the existential trajectory of the human species, but also for the intelligent balance between the poetic discourse and the series of emblematic images for our recent history, ‘HUMANO’was awarded with the 2nd Film of the Month distinction in the June 2018 edition of TMFF.
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