The Freedom of Fierro (2024) Movie Drinking Game
Take a Drink: every time Cesar experiences something for the first time (or for what may as well be)
Take a Drink: for every reminder of the Pandemic
Take a Drink: for habits clearly developed in prison
Do a Shot: for truly dark memories
By: Henry J. Fromage (Two Beers) –
In 2014, Santiago Esteinou’s documentary The Years of Fierro followed Death Row inmate Cesar Fierro, a Mexican man who had been awaiting an execution date or the slim chance of exoneration for decades after being imprisoned for the murder of a taxi driver in El Paso, across the border from his hometown of Juarez.
The Freedom of Fierro shows the hopes of Fierro and his loved ones realized, as he’s released and repatriated to his homeland. But his struggle is far from over, as transitioning from years of solitary confinement to a world that looks very different than when he left it in 1979 is no simple matter.
A Toast
What Cesar Fierro went through over his 4o years of imprisonment would fit the definition of proportionate punishment even if you did think he was guilty, of which The Years of Fierro demonstrated significant doubts. He saw 17 execution dates come and go, each time mentally preparing himself for his own death, only to get a reprieve, sometimes literally in the execution chamber. For the last 20 years he was kept in solitary confinement and under severe restrictions (perversely largely driven by the fears that he may kill himself).
So, when he his finally released, there is no shortage of struggle he still faces, not the least of which is the fact he walks out of prison and directly into COVID quarantine. Esteinou, at this point possibly the person with the longest and most significant contiguous relationship with Fierro, gives him a room in his own house, where they jointly discover the joys of discovery of this alien and beautiful world and more complex emotions like a fear of being around other people, or how prison even felt easier, perhaps less uncertain in some ways.
In time Fierro does adjust, and as the Pandemic wanes he is able to finally return to Juarez, which unlocks a whole host of emotions, bittersweet as many have passed on, but affirming as he’s instantly recognized by people who never thought they would see him again. It’s here that we can appreciate the truly epic sweep of his story, and what kind of person can endure so much, yet never lose the thread of who he really is.
Beer Two
At times, particularly when Fierro first comes to Esteinou’s house, the shots he captures almost feel a tad voyeuristic. I suppose Esteinou was also bored stiff during quarantine, and likely the last thing Fierro felt he needed was more privacy.
Verdict
The Freedom of Fierro documents a journey not just to freedom, but having to relearn what that word really means.
