Review: ‘Sin Nombre’

‘Sin Nombre’ opens in cities around the US today, so we decided to repost the review from SXSW for the movie, and under that another perspective from Tom who got a chance to see it this passed week.

I have been kicking myself since Sundance for missing this movie and I finally got the chance to see it yesterday during SXSW Film Festival 2009 and what I was in store for was more than I could have ever imagined.

The story follows El Casper, a Mexican teenager who is living life the only way he knows how which means running the streets with a gang know as Mara Salvatrucha. Although not fully living the lifestyle, and very obviously uncomfortable with the inner workings of the gang he knows that this is how he survives the chaotic lifestyle of a street kid.

You also meet Sayra who is a Honduran teenager who recently reunited with her father and uncle to travel across the Mexican border en route to the New Jersey from which her father had been deported and removed from his wife/children in the states. The only way they have out is by train hopping to get across Mexico and eventually into the US, all the while escaping border patrol and the stronghold gangs that keep them from uprising.

El Casper recruits a very young 12 year old named Smiley, whom he looks to mentor as if you can teach the ways of a gang member. After being caught in 2 lies to their gang leader involving his girlfriend Martha Marlene, Lil’ Mago decides to take El Casper and Smiley on a trip to test their real commitment to the gang. This involves going to the train tracks and holding up the border hoppers at gunpoint to steal what very little money they have. When they come upon Sayra’s family, El Capser makes a very bold decision that changes everything he has come to know.

First time writer/director Cary Fukunaga created one of the most powerful, gritty and moving pieces of cinema in recent years. ‘Sin Nombre’, although subtitled, will have you on the edge of your seat for the entire movie. Never has anyone tackled this subject with the same execution and brilliance that Cary shows us with the movie. Being his first movie/script its pretty scary to think this guy can get do any better than what he already has.

Focus Features has picked this up and we will see it start hitting theaters March 20th. If this is anywhere near you, do yourself a favor and go see it.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Tom’s Thoughts:

SIN NOMBRE is an engrossing new film about the plight of two teens who attempt an escape from the violence and poverty of Central America and Mexico . The already dangerous trek to the United States becomes even more harrowing for lead character Willy after he impulsively murders the leader of his local teen gang and becomes a marked man on the run. Unlike EL NORTE (1984), this film’s obvious predecessor, SIN NOMBRE is all about the journey and not the arrival. SIN NOMBRE explores the reasons that these determined people risk deportation, jail and their own lives to escape a life without a future. Part road trip, love story, social drama, and chase film, SIN NOMBRE is an exciting movie that is well worth seeing.

Tough teen Willy (Edgar Flores) belongs to the kill-or-be-killed Mara Salvatrucha gang culture of Apachula, Mexico. Willy’s heart however belongs more to his sexy girlfriend Martha than to his gang, which doesn’t sit well with the Mara leader, Lil’ Mago (a scary   Tenoch Huerta Mejia, his face a dense mass of menacing tattoos). Lil’ Mago kills Martha during a rape attempt, then forces Willy to join him in robbing defenseless and unarmed immigrants who are trying to ride the trains north. In a parallel plot,   Honduran teen Sayra (Paulina Gaitan), embarks on a adventure with her father and uncle to enter the U.S. illegally and join up with family that have already made it to New Jersey (some paradise!). After a jungle trek to Mexico, they meet up with hundreds of others waiting to hop aboard freight trains.   It’s atop one of the trains that Willy and Sayra’s paths cross. When Lil’ Mago starts to rape Sayra after robbing her companions, Willy both rescues her and avenges Martha’s murder by killing Lil’ Mago. Sayra soon ditches her father to join Willy and the second half of SIN NOMBRE becomes a doomed lovers-on-the-run story as an army of well-connnected gang members (including a homicidal 12-year old Willy personally recruited) is soon chasing Willy and Sayra through Mexico to avenge Lil’ Mago’s death.

There is much to admire in SIN NOMBRE, not least of which is the film’s look. The rolling   widescreen photography of the countryside stands out and the dire urban scenes are chilling, recalling the dangerous look of the similar CITY OF GOD. Cary Fukunaga (an American) directs with a sure hand and builds a lot of tension throughout, especially during a wild-west style shoot-out in a small town. The title SIN NOMBRE translates as “without a name” or “nameless† referencing the thousands of faceless immigrants illegally pouring through America’s borders. Clinging to the roofs of boxcars and exposed to the elements (as well as the border patrol), these desperate souls are portrayed in a hugely sympathetic light. Sometimes they are tossed oranges, other times they have rocks thrown at them in disgust. The political issue of illegal immigration is never addressed but SIN NOMBRE is great drama which manages to put a human face on the problem.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5