August Evening 
Stars: Pedro Castaneda, Veronica Loren, Walter Perez and Raquel Gavia
Director/Scriptwriter: Chris Eska
Cinematography: Yasu Tanida
Composer: Jonathan Hughes
Maya Entertainment
Running Length: 129 minutes
Rating: unrated but could be PG 13
Spanish language with subtitles
Reviewed at Kansas International Film Festival (KIFF) Sept. 2008
 
This film runs as slowly and smoothly as a hot August evening. Director/scriptwriter Chris Eska gives us a story of two people dealing with tragedy and how it has effected their lives. Pedro Castaneda and Veronica Loren star as the Hispanic father-in-law and daughter-in-law who bond to cope. Photography (Yasu Tanida) is very well done and shows the isolation and poverty that sometimes runs hand-in-hand with grief.
 
We learn that Jaime (Castaneda) and his wife Maria (Raquel Gavia), have let their daughter-in-law, Lupe (Veronica Loren) live with them after the death of their son, and Lupe’s husband. Lupe is as close to them as a real daughter. It is when Maria passes away and Jaime loses his job, that the two have to make a decision. The funeral is another look at poverty. Something that is brought to light when eventually Jaime’s real children come to visit. One daughter is a success in the corporate world and has a white husband. The other son claims to be successful, but is always thinking of another scheme. First, they go to live with the son, who, it seems, doesn’t live in an extravagant house after all. Then, they move in with the daughter, but this doesn’t work out either, when Jaime comes home drunk and the neighbors are concerned.  It is as this point that the family decides Lupe should start dating, and in several hilarious sequences, fix her up with a handsome butcher, Luis (Walter Perez) who won’t take “no” for an answer. Here is a patient man who knows what he wants and that is Lupe. He comes to see her with prime cuts of meat.
 
August Evening is overly long at 129 minutes and several walks could have been eliminated. We get it that the family doesn't own a car. This is a film where you take your time getting introduced to the characters and it is worth it. Pedro Castaneda’s Jaime doesn’t speak much, but when he does, it is lightly teasing, and he can get to the point, too. It is clear that he likes his daughter-in-law. Veronica Loren as Lupe is quietly grieving, but we find out that is a mask and she doesn’t know how to come out from behind this facade. Jaime’s attempts to earn a living by standing with other men on a street corner in San Antonio and waiting for work offers is poignant. Home is usually a shack without air-conditioning and you know the family is undocumented. When the boyfriend comes on the scene, the audience is quietly urging Lupe to take that first step and accept a date. When it comes, along with a plate of peppers, you see a gentle family in action.
 

Copyright 2008 Marie Asner