Filmed in glossy black and white, and adopting a non-judgmental vérité approach, director Carlos Alfonso Corral’s debut is a humanizing look at a small section of the homeless population in El Paso, Texas. “Dirty Feathers,” is a short, but thematically rich, film about those on the margins of society. Foregrounding about a half dozen characters, as they wander the streets, often attempting to score drugs, Corral’s camera centralizes the complexity of his subjects, as they grapple with the day-to-day grind of their life. Moving in and out of the Opportunity Center for the Homeless in El Paso, a shelter that many of Corral’s subjects have been barred from, “Dirty Feathers” avoids the polemical issues surrounding the intersection of drug addiction and homelessness, but nevertheless centralizes the humanity of the people who are often abandoned by the systems that are supposed to protect them.
READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2021
While “Dirty Feathers” cross-cuts between a number of different people, Brandon and his pregnant wife Reagan, both of whom live on the street and turn to drugs as a method of escape are the closest to protagonists. Systematic in how they arrange all their possessions, Brandon and Reagan are forced to move around, constantly looking for places to sleep and keep warm. In a few harrowing scenes, Reagan gets high, openly admitting the shame she feels for her addiction and wondering how her choices will affect her unborn child, while Brandon dreams about the possibility of opening his own restaurant one day. Other subjects include Nathan, recently released from prison and grappling with the freedom that he is now given, and Ashley, a profound 17-year-old who bears the literal scars of an abusive relationship.
Like Brandon and Reagan, these characters oscillate between lamenting their past struggles, wondering how they’ve reached this point in their lives, and looking towards a more hopeful future. This sense of stasis informs how they tackle each day, varied enough in finding food or a warm place to sleep, but also repeating, as they go through the motions to buy drugs and get high. Corral, however, is never judgmental of these choices, allowing the characters to speak for themselves, rationalizing (or not) the ways in which they cope. The film even begins with a subject decrying how smoking dope has destroyed his life, but lamenting the fact that he knows he isn’t going to quit anytime soon. Backgrounded within these vignettes is the OC, a shelter that has to balance the needs of those non-violent residents who rely on the place, and the others, who cannot get access to the mental, emotional, and financial support that they obviously need.
As such, “Dirty Feathers” is an especially harrowing watch. The film never focuses on the institutions that have failed these people, but instead on the people who have to fend for themselves, showing a Navy veteran talks about his service while living under an overpass, in an especially heartbreaking scene. It’s a portrait of humanity on the fringes of society, as the subjects move in and out of each other’s lives, forming a community when they’ve been shunned by everyone else. As Brandon continues to optimistic about whatever opportunities the future might hold, he and his wife continue to slide into addiction, unsure how they are going to provide for their child. By choosing to simply observe, “Dirty Feathers” preaches tolerance, taking viewers through their daily struggle to just survive. While the choices that the subjects make can be especially frustrating to watch, as we witness Reagan get high while pregnant, for example, the film is nevertheless a truthful representation, overflowing with compassion.. [A-]
You can follow along with the rest of our 2021 Berlin Film Festival coverage here.