Enrique Metinides
The Man Who Saw Too Much

The Man Who Saw Too Much is a film about fragility; a man obsessed with photographing the accident, who discovered that the fate of others was his way of connecting to life. His passion for American and Mexican cinema shaped his way of seeing; skipping school to go to the movies, he would take photos off the screen, then emerge into the light looking for the equivalent in reality—attempting to connect both worlds. A boy without a childhood, who as an adult began collecting toys, as if he had lived life in reverse. A child with an adult’s eye. 

Through the footsteps of Metinides and the work of contemporary tabloid photography we discover Mexico City, seen through a narrative of accidents and crime scenes.  Almost housebound today, fearful of the outside world, we encounter the photographer’s home, an archive of memories of his past: collections of photographs and albums depicting images of disaster from around the world; collections of toy fire trucks and ambulances and images of the Virgin of Guadalupe and frogs; his lucky charms! 

A film about a compelling face with Hitchcockian overtones: a face that is confronted time and time again by the camera in utter darkness; as if his look through the lens will reveal some psychological insight into what makes a person devote himself to documenting death. The more we try to understand him and acknowledge our own compelling fascination with accidents, the more we realize that we too are being lured into the Metinides’ Gaze.