August Evening
Friday, 7:15 pm, Regal Downtown #3
Director: Chris Eska
Writer: Chris Eska
Cinematographer: Yasu Tanida
Cast: Pedro Castaneda, Veronica Loren, Abel Becerra
Running Time: 127 min
August Evening, which won the John Cassavetes Award for best feature made for under $500,000 at this year’s Independent Spirit Awards, is the debut feature of director Chris Eska. Like traveling down a gently flowing river, the film lingers on the Texas landscape and gives the audience a chance to settle comfortably into the setting and become acquainted with its inhabitants, The film follows an undocumented alien farmworker named Jaime (Pedro Castaneda) and his daughter-in-law Lupe (Veronica Loren), whose husband died four years previously in an automobile accident. After the death of Jaime’s wife (Raquel Gavia) and the loss of his job at a chicken farm, the two must leave rural southern Texas to live with Jaime’s surviving children (Abel Becerra and Sandra Rios) in San Antonio.
First bunking in with one and then the other family, bonds are tested as the grown children try to leave behind their immigrant roots, and Lupe proves more of a daughter to Jaime than his remaining biological children. In a poignant moment, Jaime wonders, if his dead son had lived, might he too have disappointed him? The film’s measured pace, wistful tone, and nuanced observations of family life and generational tensions suggests that director Eska is channeling the spirit of Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu.
The film provides powerful performances, most notably from Castaneda, who has a strong screen presence, particularly remarkable given that this is his first role. Loren and Becerra also create solid characters, as do Cesar Flores and Walter Perez in supporting roles as an old friend of Jaime and a potential boyfriend for Lupe, respectively.
