Toro Negro (NR)

synopsis

Fernando Pacheco, aka El Suicida, is a young bullfighter who doesn't fight in the great arenas of Mexico, but rather in the popular festivals of the small Mayan communities of the Yucatan Peninsula. With unbelievable, and at times disturbing, closeness, documentary filmmakers González-Rubio and Carlos Armella follow Pacheco's life in and out of the bullring. A warm-hearted and honest character, Pacheco is a man whose self-destructive behavior - heavy alcohol and drug use, even in the ring - bring his private life and public performance to extremes of insanity. But it is ultimately Pacheco's wife (who is also his manager) who pays the highest price for his behavior, and the camera relentlessly stays on their relationship, even during the crude scenes of domestic violence.