As befits the genre that also brought us 'Like Water for Chocolate,' 'Bless Me, Ultima' comes replete with incantations, magic spells and a Significant Owl that passively observes all the human activity, then swoops in at keys moments of the story to make its presence felt. It is the latter, in particular, that ends up causing trouble with some of the people in the village, who suspect her of being a 'bruja.' Written and directed by Carl Franklin, 'Bless Me, Ultima' is what 'To Kill a Mockingbird' might have been like had Harper Lee seen fit to imbue it with generous touches of Magic Realism (in that version Boo Radley probably would have been an actual ghost). Weather-beaten and leather-skinned, Ultima is filled with old person wisdom and the power to both heal and cast out evil spirits. This includes the arrival of Ultima (Miriam Colon), a sort of cultural shaman, who has come to live out her final days with his family.
The story is narrated by a now-adult Antonio reflecting back on the events that happened to him and his family when he was a little boy. Based on the 1972 novel by Rudolfo Anaya (a favorite among high school English teachers), 'Bless Me, Ultima' is an autobiographical coming-of-age tale set in 1940s New Mexico.
