Toro Negro – Black Bull (2005)

Directed by: Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio, Carlos Armella | 87 minutes | documentary | Starring: Fernando Pacheco, Romelia Sosa, Mario Tello, Teodoro

When you think of bullfighting, you think of the full arenas and men who attack big strong bulls with shiny suits. However, the reality is not always so spectacular. Young Fernando gives you a glimpse into his life as a bullfighter on the poor Yucatan Peninsula (behind the tourist centers in southern Mexico). The arenas in which 21-year-old Fernando fights have little in common with the glamorous arenas we know from television. These arenas consist of wooden constructions that serve as a shield between the public and the bulls. Fortunately for these people, these bulls are so skinny that they can’t get through these wooden barriers anyway. That they are strong, however, can be seen when Fernando enters the arena one evening full of energy. In no time things go completely wrong and Fernando has to be rescued from a mad bull by his colleagues.

We see the drunk Fernando return more often in ‘Toro Negro’ and this figure does not make you happy. The boy lives with ‘his wife’ – who rescued him from the street – whom he regularly abuses when drunk. Even the fact that everything is filmed doesn’t stop him from doing so. At one point a situation gets so out of hand that the camera crew stops filming and decides to help Fernando’s pregnant wife. This shocking image is typical of the entire documentary. Because how far can you actually go with a documentary? Can you keep filming a pregnant woman being abused by her partner? For many, this scene will go a step too far, but without these images the documentary would not be complete.

When Fernando visits his mother one day, it turns out that the boy did not just become an aggressive drunk. The boy got into drugs at a young age and was kicked out of the house without any prospects at the age of 15. Compared to a few years ago, Fernando is doing very well. It’s just a shame that his immediate environment hardly notices this.

‘Toro Negro’ is the debut of Mexican filmmakers Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio and Carlos Armella and was filmed with a mini-DVD camera. The makers have not tried so much to capture beautiful images, but have tried to capture the raw reality of Fernando’s life. In addition, they don’t even have all the material they had used for the film. For example, they did not use images of a dead drunk Fernando, who lives up to his nickname ‘El Suicida’ in a bullfight. ‘Toro Negro’ is certainly not a nice film, but it is an impressive film. The simple and intimate way of filming ensures that you get to know Fernando and can understand him a little despite his terrible behavior towards his wife.