Cirquera: a family album unlike any other
Some families are plainly conventional while others may look so, and yet be the exact opposite. Some are off-beat almost by definition, whereas others may be even more peculiar than what they first appear.
In the case of Diana Rutkus, her family is one-of-a-kind. She spent her first years between the circus and a motor home because her mother was a trapeze artist and her father was a lion-tamer and a drummer.
When she turned five, her parents left the circus and a more predictable life began. More than thirty years after, Diana revisits her early family life, and in so doing she draws a portrayal of many other circus artists with some unusual lives as well. It’s circus time once again.
Cirquera is the name of the documentary by Andrés Habegger and Diana Rutkus which uses to interviews, stock footage (home movies), family photographs, the filmmaker’s own voice-over, and a variety of location shots that not only account for particular stories themselves (those of Diana and her parents, to begin with), but also for other stories of a more universal scope. Cirquera is an examination and an exploration of a past long gone, but it’s also an intimate chronicle of circus life today — behind the scenes, that is. Bits and pieces here and there make up a rich canvas with amusingly odd touches. The interviewees speak candidly up as they recall past and present anecdotes that speak of a world that lies largely unrevealed unless you really get into it. Once inside, it’s most charming.
For the most part, Habegger’s and Rutkus’ documentary succeeds in fulfilling the expectations it arises. However, sometimes it’s too leisurely paced, and so it tends to drag. It even becomes a bit redundant. Something similar happens with the voiceover, which at times becomes too explanatory. Most of the time, it’s used to reflect upon something of the past (a given event or just an anecdote) or to evoke certain memories, and in these cases it does work pretty well. But when it tells viewers what the filmmakers feel or think about something important regarding the heart of the film, then the overall emotional impact is greatly diminished.
On the plus side, the cinematography is noteworthy indeed. Static locations shots establish a sense of time and space as eloquent close-ups allow viewers to get in touch with the most intimate sides of these artists.
