In Reygadas’ film, the battle is happening inside Marcos. He is a monstrous man (a negligent father, an accomplice to murder), yet he seeks an authentic connection to the divine. The film asks:
In the late 2000s and 2010s, Ok.ru (Odnoklassniki), a Russian social network, became an unofficial archive for art-house and controversial films that were difficult to find on mainstream streaming services. Users would upload full movies to the platform’s video section. battle in heaven (2005 ok ru)
And if you find yourself watching it on a low-resolution Ok.ru stream in the middle of the night, you might just be experiencing it exactly as the director intended: uncomfortable, lost, and searching for a little grace in the static. Have you seen Battle in Heaven? What did you make of that final shot? Let me know in the comments below. In Reygadas’ film, the battle is happening inside Marcos