Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths review: An unforgettable trip inside the mind of a broken documentarian

Given Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu's track record of giving cinema-lovers masterpieces, his new film, Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths is no different. Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths has to be one of the filmmaker's most personal projects to date.

The film stars Mexican actor Daniel Giménez Cacho as journalist/documentarian Silverio Gama. It gives its viewers a melancholic yet feel-good experience of homecoming, lost history and one's conflicted relationship with home.

Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths isn't straightforward and to the point. The film's surrealistic visuals and unparallel storylines have often been described by film critics as a frustrating watch.

To truly understand what Bardo, the False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths is really about, we need to know a little bit about the history and creation of Mexico.

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Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths review

Alejandro G. Iñárritu's Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths is a beautiful tragedy

"success is my biggest failure."

These are not our words, but that of the film's protagonist, Silverio Gama.

Silverio is a Mexican journalist/documentary filmmaker living a life of peace and contentment with his wife and son Lorenzo. On the outside, they look like a happy normal family, but Silverio's identity keeps tormenting him throughout his life. Moreover, he and his wife aren't able to move past the death of their first son Mateo, who died one day after his birth.

He calls LA his home, but is it, really? This question was thrown at him and us from the very beginning to the end of the film. He secretly feels guilty for emigrating to the U.S. when so many other Mexicans cannot leave.

Silverio experiences much of his day-to-day life in surreal fashion, with dreams, memories, and fantasies playing out alongside his activities.

The film's dreamlike nature also takes Silverio to a gruesome chapter of Mexican history when he meets Hernán Cortés. He is a Spanish conquistador who led an expedition that caused the doom of the glorious Aztec civilization.

Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths is a treat for lovers of intense personal drama and tragedy. The film will certainly be a tiring experience for people with low attention spans as almost every shot and dialog demonstrates a deeper meaning and subtext.

Apart from the film's plot, the credit for its enchanting visuals goes to the celebrated cinematographer Darius Khondji, who has worked with a number of high-profile directors, including David Fincher, Woody Allen, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Gus Van Sant, Roman Polanski, and many more.

While the first half of Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths is tragic and painful, the second half is warmer and more inviting. Silverio gets more and more in touch with his human side and becomes more accepting of his reality, life, and existence.

Movie buffs can draw Bardo's similarities with Christopher Nolan's Memento, Federico Fellini's 8½, and Gaspar Noé's Enter the Void.

Holistically, the film ranks right up there as one of Alejandro G. Iñárritu's best and has been created with the trust of the audience’s intelligence and power of perception. Or maybe he overcomplicates things on purpose to mess with our minds.

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A demonstration of unfiltered emotions with spectacular acting

The portrayal of Silverio Gama could only have been pulled off by the veteran Daniel Giménez Cacho. This display is evident in scenes where he meets his deceased parents and a war general through his dreams and fantasies.

Alongside Cacho, Griselda Siciliani, Ximena Lamadrid, and Iker Sanchez Solano's performances as Silverio's wife, daughter, and son respectively are extremely convincing and certainly give a glimpse of the talent Latin America has to offer.

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You can watch Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths on Netflix, which is available to stream worldwide.