Stunningly shot in the Bolivian mountains, jungles and in contemporary La Paz, Kiro Russo’s mesmerizing experimental drama offers a monumental, gently mystical portrait of the contemporary central South American cityscape and those who work within its bowels and environs. El Gran Movimiento follows a young miner named Elder who begins to suffer from a mysterious illness as he looks for work alongside his friends. An elderly woman known as Mama Pancha sends him to Max, a mysterious man who resides in the rainforest and occasionally works in La Paz as a street performer. To save Elder, Max performs a series of shamanic rituals that slowly brings the young man back to life. With its marvelous long-lens zoom work and increasingly dynamic, rhythmic editing, Russo’s film is a hypnotic journey into a psychological space that touches upon the supernatural.
