The Powerful Pills of Turtle Oil

A local flea market in Mexico City, where recycling is the order of the day. Clothing, items and other leftovers pour forth, awaiting a new life. Just like the sellers perhaps, relieving their boredom, or the passers-by pacing up and down the alleys. Calmly and routinely, they stroll, search and look. But for what exactly? In mimicry, the vision of the filmmaker lands here and there, close up then further away, alternating shot angles and length. By turns, the framing splits, separates then reunites people and things: a pile of Barbie dolls on one side, Big Jims on the other; a woman against a wall, a child in the crowd; headless bodies that cross the image and overall views. A loudspeaker, addressing everyone and no-one in this indifferent mass, extols the invigorating benefits of… turtle oil. A miracle remedy for the world of excess? Skilfully playing with observation and listening, Las Potentes cápsulas… delivers a critical and irony-tinged look at our consumer society.

Alessia Bottani