Bless Me, Ultima

Director: Carl Franklin

Cast: Miriam Colon, Luke Ganalon, Dolores Heredia, Bento Martinez, Castulo Guerra, Joaquin Cosio

Genre: Drama/War 2012

Running time: 106 mins.

Rating:★★★★

Based on acclaimed author Rudolfo Anaya's novel, BLESS ME, ULTIMA is a turbulent coming-of-age story about a young boy growing up in New Mexico during World War II. When a curandera named Ultima ( Miriam Colon) moves in with his family, Antonio (Luke Ganalon) experiences a series of mysterious and terrifying events, which cause him to grapple with questions about his own destiny and the powers of this mystical woman.

At the start of the film, there is immediately a sense that the beauty and the patient enjoyment of nature, cycle, innocence, "the ways of men," and religion are key elements in setting the stage of where the story is about to act out. Streams transitioning from winter to spring, vast rolling mountains, the windmill rotating beneath the blistering sun, and the Virgin Mary painted on the side of a barn. These magnificent imagery with the narration, organically shifting from one to the next, are what intices the audience into taking the hints of the possible themes of the film. A mystical bond between Ultima and Antonio, as soon as they are introduced to the story. Why? We're not sure. We, the audience, are told that Antonio was the last child she "pulled out" from his mother. His sisters are debating whether or not Ultima is a witch. They are told by their mother that she is just a curandera, a healer who uses folk remedies.

"The smallest amount of good can triumph all the powers of evil." But what is the significance of the owl in correlation to Ultima? And the bond between her and Antonio are like kindred spirits who don't miss a beat. Patient and loving souls, who observe all and wait for the right moment before striking. Perhaps it is this that makes the owl so significance. We are later told that Ultima was given the owl as girl from a wise old man, as a bond of time and harmony of the universe. It is clear too, anger, ignorance, and rash decisions will get you nowhere with more consequences than one thinks. With pureness of heart and a willingness to see and remember the good in people, wonderous things will happen in time.

There is a question, asked at the beginning, that is revisited near the end. "Why is there is so much evil in the world?" Antonio asks his father this. His father replies that he doesn't think evil really exists that it is more a lack of understanding. Which is a very interesting thought to consider. One that we must look inside ourselves to answer. A very moving film that uses high and low contrasts with a red undertone beautifully to express the journey Antonio goes on while growing through the wisdom of and the bond with Ultima.