Pingyao Film Festival 2021 | Pedro

In Pedro, from writer & director (and first-time filmmaker) Natesh Hegde, the world and life of Pedro (played by Gopal Hegde, Natesh’s father) is quickly established before we ever see him. We see his boss below on the ground as the rain pours and eventually, Pedro joins him, his rain suit slick with water, having just been up on a pole in the downpour putting up wires. The audience doesn’t question why Pedro desires to take the offer to work on the farm for the day, if his normal life involves working in conditions like this, farmwork seems like a retreat.

However, his boss warns him not to stay longer than a day, a clear warning, and since this is a film, you know it’s one he should’ve heeded. At this point, as an audience member, I just waited for the danger to present itself, and Natesh Hegde does a good job of providing multiple potential sources for this danger. The most obvious is Pedro’s younger brother, Bastyav, whose home Pedro’s staying in and whose role Pedro’s taken over due to Bastyav’s problems with alcohol. The danger, however, initially comes in the form of an opportunity, as the best threats do.  Pedro is very skilled at climbing trees. We see this with the work he does on the farm and when he climbs poles for wiring. He is so skilled at climbing poles, he’d make the engineering students at Queen’s jealous. It helps that Pedro is played by Gopal Hegde, who inspired the story because of his real-life work as an electrician. This film is his acting debut.

The opportunity, however, does not involve climbing trees. It involves a rifle. When the hunter dies, Pedro’s asked to take up the role, having never hunted before. He’s convinced to take the job because of his affection for his brother’s family (particularly his son) and by others telling him that he won’t be able to climb trees forever. Although not stated, he probably also desires the respect that comes with being the hunter.

They say you can’t teach an old dog a new trick, and Pedro struggles. And in his struggle to do this new job, he loses sight of his beloved dog, who winds up getting killed in the night by a wild boar. As a result of his grief, he drinks too much with his boss (from the wiring work) and decides he will find and kill the boar. But instead, he kills a cow. Cows are sacred so now Pedro is viewed even lower than Bastyav.

The rest of the film takes on a quality reminiscent of Scorsese’s After Hours, in this case, Pedro keeps facing a series of escalating problems, and everything he had, he loses. And as the film progresses, you feel as tired as Pedro looks. It’s not an easy film to watch, despite how beautiful the cinematography by Vikas Urs is. From the beginning, the established filming style is at times very observational with a wide frame and a stationary camera. Due to this precedence, you’re able to tell when you reach the climax and anticipate the outcome without them having to show it because they choose to move the camera in a scene they otherwise would’ve stayed stationary. However, even while revealing their hand, Hegde still held one last dagger for Pedro’s story in the reveal of who would be taking the action. There was only one person they could’ve asked to flip that switch that would’ve been a greater emotional blow.

Pedro played at Pingyao in the Crouching Tigers section, a category for international debuts from directors with their 1st-3rd feature. Natesh Hegde won the section’s Roberto Rossellini Award for Best Director.