SHREWSBURY FILM SOCIETY
| Director | Alejandro Loayza Grisi |
|---|---|
| Country | Bolivia |
| Year | 2022 |
Utama is a quietly arresting first feature set on the Bolivian Altiplano, where an elderly Quechua couple confronts a drought that threatens not only their livelihood but the continuity of their culture. The director, Alejandro Loayza Grisi, began his career as a still photographer before moving into cinematography, and his visual background shapes every frame. The film opens with an image that several critics have singled out as unforgettable: a lone man walking toward a blazing sunrise, his silhouette small against the vastness of the highlands. This man is Virginio, played by Jose Calcina, a non professional actor who appears alongside his real life partner Luisa Quispe as Sisa. Their lived in intimacy is visible in the smallest gestures, and the film builds much of its emotional force from their understated presence.
The couple live in a remote settlement without running water or electricity. Virginio tends their llamas, while Sisa walks long distances to fetch water from a pump that is itself beginning to fail. The land around them is drying out. The village well has already collapsed into dust, and the ice that once fed the region has retreated. Although no one names climate change directly, its effects are everywhere. The cracked earth, the thinning river, and the dying llamas form a stark portrait of environmental collapse. The film’s title, meaning our home in Quechua, signals both the intimacy of the couple’s bond with the land and the fragility of that connection in the face of ecological crisis. For viewers interested in broader cinematic treatments of environmental change, the theme resonates with works like climate cinema.
The arrival of their grandson Clever, played by Santos Choque, introduces a generational and cultural tension. Raised in the city and speaking only Spanish, he brings with him the rhythms of contemporary life, including the constant presence of his phone. His mission is to persuade his grandparents to leave the highlands and join the rest of the family in urban surroundings. But for Virginio and Sisa, the question is not where to live but where to die. Their attachment to the land is inseparable from their identity, their language, and their sense of continuity. If they leave, the Quechua spoken in their family will vanish with them. The film treats this cultural erosion with a light touch, allowing the audience to feel the weight of loss without didacticism. Viewers who appreciate films about endangered traditions may find echoes of indigenous storytelling.
The narrative unfolds at a measured, meditative pace. Some reviewers describe the experience as akin to a mindfulness exercise, with long takes that invite contemplation rather than urgency. The soundscape deepens this effect. Local instruments such as pan flutes and percussion create an atmosphere that is both haunting and grounded in place. The llamas themselves become part of the film’s sonic and visual texture, their humming forming a kind of chorus that comments on the couple’s routines.
Cinematographer Barbara Alvarez, known for her work on films such as The Headless Woman, brings a clarity and precision to the imagery. Wide shots capture the immensity of the plateau, while carefully chosen angles reveal intimate details: a face reflected in a basin of water, a couple resting in bed seen from above. The landscape is undeniably beautiful, yet the film avoids romanticising it. Instead, the highlands appear indifferent to human need, their grandeur underscoring the precariousness of the couple’s existence.
The story also touches on community rituals. Villagers gather for meetings and undertake a pilgrimage to the mountains in search of water, performing traditional ceremonies that include the sacrifice of a llama. These scenes highlight the tension between those who wish to remain and those who see departure as the only viable option. The presence of a condor, a creature revered in Andean culture and itself threatened with extinction, reinforces the film’s themes of mortality and continuity.
Utama is a film of quiet power, shaped by natural performances, immersive sound design, and a visual sensibility that captures both the beauty and the desolation of the Bolivian highlands. It stands as a portrait of a way of life on the brink, shaped by forces both environmental and cultural. In its restraint and clarity, it offers a moving reflection on home, heritage, and the choices that define the end of a life.
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