2009 ‘El viaje del cometa’ Directed by Ivonne Fuentes
A couple of retired teachers transform an unused school bus into a mobile home. With the help of a few telescopes, a pension, and a heartfelt dream, they begin their journey to the most isolated parts of Mexico to teach a little astronomy to the public schools across the country for free.
Mexico
Mexico
I don't want to be a hater, but this was absolutely terrible.
I thought "hey nice little documentary about a great idea! I like learning about space, there's a road trip angle, so much to enjoy."
And theeeeen... I watched the film.
I think there's at least half a dozen ways this could have been interesting, but sadly none of them were chosen.
For a film about, ostensibly, taking astronomy to the masses, there's nothing about space here, really.
So maybe it's the road tri... No, not really.
Is it the relationship between the tw... No, nothing on that either.
And it's frustrating, because there are a few lovely shots, and a segment around 50 mins in on which one…
“Caminé como los que salen al camino sin rumbo los que esperan hallar la pista de su propio destino”
El viaje del cometa es un documental sobre dos maestros jubilados que enseñan astronomía en escuelas remotas de México. A lo largo de un recorrido que empieza en Baja California Sur veremos la vida de ellos así como un poco de su pasado.
En verdad más que documental parece video diario con momentos muy bellos, encuadres que podrían ser una hermosa postal para después verlos arruinados con tomas grabadas con handycams y que parecen sacadas de un video experimental o de video arte de estudiante de cine, entiendo que quizás fue una decisión para hacerlo un poco más dinámico ya que…
What a lovely film! This is exactly the kind of film that makes me pay the steep yearly fee for Mubi while skimping on Netflix as much as possible. A docu about a retired couple who remodeled a school bus into a nerdy trailer and who went around Mexico teaching impoverished kids about astronomy. Halfway past the film, the husband propounds his philosophy about travel, which will inflict you with a severe case of wanderlust. In this age of Instagram travel, this is a lovely look at what authentic travelling looks like.
Probably would have worked better as a short film than as a feature-length one.
Pleasant and wholesome to watch, but probably doesn't dig beneath the surface enough. I hope they've sorted out a permit office in Santa Rosalia...
A very poorly presented doc which has a flat subject and even flatter screen presence.
About halfway through this documentary, Enoc Fuentes (the grandfather) talks in length about his nomad lifestyle, his family of travelers and his children. This is the moment The Journey of the Comet peaked for me, especially when he said the following words.
Man dreams more of returning than of departing, without care for the simple things of life.
At that moment, I could really feel how much his lifestyle means to him.
Sadly, I can't say the rest of this documentary really piqued my interest. I got bored really quickly of watching them living their life on the road. I feel like this would have been wonderful had it been a short like The Trader, which I kept thinking about while watching this.
Fuentes' philosophical musings on this journey makes the film a hypnotic, calming watch.
