Circo (2010)
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92% of critics liked it
(26 reviews) -
78% of users liked it
(725 ratings)
Aaron Schock's acclaimed film, which has appeared at many world festivals and is the most recent winner of the Jury Award at the Hampton's International Film Festival, is one of the most compelling documentaries seen in years. Set in the cinematically rich milieu of a century-old traveling… More Aaron Schock's acclaimed film, which has appeared at many world festivals and is the most recent winner of the Jury Award at the Hampton's International Film Festival, is one of the most compelling documentaries seen in years. Set in the cinematically rich milieu of a century-old traveling circus in rural Mexico, CIRCO follows the family-run "Circo Mexico" as they struggle to stay together despite mounting debt, dwindling audiences, and a simmering family conflict. The hardscrabble founders, the Ponce family, have lived and performed on the back roads of Mexico since the 19th century. Tino, the ringmaster, is driven by his dream to lead his parents' circus to greater success. He corrals the energy of his whole family, including his parents, his brother and his four young children, towards this singular goal. But his wife Ivonne is determined to make a change. Feeling exploited by her in-laws, she longs to return her kids to a childhood lost to laboring in the circus. Through an intricately woven story of a marriage in trouble and of a century-old family tradition that hangs in the balance, CIRCO asks: To whom and to what should we ultimately owe our allegiances? Gorgeously filmed along the back roads of rural Mexico, CIRCO is a road movie that opens the viewer to the luminous world of a traveling circus while examining the universal themes of family bonds, filial responsibility, and the weight of cultural inheritance. --(c)First Run Features
- Directed By
- Aaron Schock
- Written By
- Mark Becker, Aaron Schock
- Genres
- Documentary, Drama, Art House & International, Special Interest
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Apr 1, 2011 Wide
- Studio
- First Run Features
Critic Reviews
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Jennie Punter, Globe and Mail
Circo takes you to the edge of human experience on a path none of this summer's superhero daredevils would ever consider taking.
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Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
It says as much about human nature as it shows about struggling entertainers.
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Ted Fry, Seattle Times
Sort of a modern-day version of "Toby Tyler," only without a frisky, mischievous Mr. Stubbs as comic relief.
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Loren King, Boston Globe
"Circo'' offers a fascinating mix of backstage drama and family dynamics.
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Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle
In "Circo," Aaron Schock documents the fearsome labor and intense willpower it takes to keep this shoestring show on the road, and the price paid by the family that runs it.
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