https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardo,_False_Chronicle_of_a_Handful_of_Truths (Netflix)
now, this one is magic realism,
Can we say that Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (Inarritu, 2022) is a work of magic realism? （ChatGPT, 2025-2-2)
Yes, Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (2022) by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu can be considered a work of magic realism, though it also incorporates elements of surrealism, metafiction, and dreamlike subjectivity.
Why It Fits the Definition of Magic Realism
1. Blurring of Reality and Fantasy
The film constantly shifts between real-life events, dreams, hallucinations, and memories, often without clear boundaries.
This is a hallmark of magic realism, where the extraordinary is treated as part of everyday reality.
2. Nonlinear, Fluid Storytelling
The narrative follows Silverio Gama, a Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker, as he navigates a subjective, dreamlike reality filled with fragmented memories and existential doubts.
Similar to works by Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Juan Rulfo, the story resists a strict chronological structure.
3. Historical and Political Elements with a Mythic Touch
The film incorporates Mexico’s colonial past, immigration issues, and personal identity struggles into its visual and narrative structure.
Magic realism often fuses history with myth, and Inarritu’s approach reflects this blending of personal and collective memory.
4. Hyperrealistic Visuals with Unreal Elements
Sequences such as Silverio floating in the desert or engaging in conversations with his dead father reflect the magic realist technique of inserting the fantastical into hyperrealistic settings.
5. Existential Themes & the Unstable Self
The film explores death, nostalgia, exile, and the search for meaning, often through mystical, exaggerated, or paradoxical imagery - a key feature of Latin American magic realism.
Surrealism vs. Magic Realism in Bardo
While magic realism and surrealism overlap, the film leans more toward magic realism because:
It grounds the magical in an everyday world, rather than creating an entirely dreamlike, detached reality.
The emphasis on history, identity, and memory ties it to the Latin American literary tradition of magic realism rather than European surrealism.
However, elements of surrealism (especially Bunuel-like absurdity) are undeniably present - such as Silverio’s small, fetus-like baby crawling back into his wife’s womb or conversations with Cortes in a battlefield of dead indigenous people.
Final Verdict: Magic Realism with Surrealist Flourishes
Yes, Bardo is fundamentally a work of magic realism, deeply rooted in Mexican and Latin American storytelling traditions.
It also incorporates elements of autobiographical metafiction, surrealism, and existential cinema - making it a hybrid, but closer in spirit to magic realism than pure surrealism.
Inarritu’s film, much like Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Paramo or Garcis Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, treats memory, history, and dreams as indistinguishable from reality - a defining feature of magic realism.
Alejandro González Iñárritu (b 1963)
Feature films
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Amores perros | Yes | Yes | No | Also editor |
| 2003 | 21 Grams | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2005 | Nine Lives | No | Yes | No | |
| 2006 | Babel | Yes | Yes | Idea | |
| 2008 | Rudo y Cursi | No | Yes | No | |
| 2009 | Mother and Child | No | Yes | No | |
| 2010 | Biutiful | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2014 | Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2015 | The Revenant | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2022 | Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also editor and composer |
| 2026 | Untitled film | Yes | Yes | Yes | Filming |
