Economic migrants are certainly getting a bad press at the
present time. What are economic migrants other than people who want to improve
their lives for both themselves and their families? Some live in conditions and
countries that people would not let their precious dogs live in, so why let
people? Admittedly some folk just see another country as having something
different to offer be it sunshine or perhaps better schooling for their kids. I
myself was an economic migrant some 23 years ago when I choose to move my family
to another country. One in which my children were offered a better education system
and somewhere where they could actually venture outdoors without adult
supervision. Obviously my situation was nowhere near as serious and heart rendering
as the migrants we see in the 2009 Mexican-American thriller Sin
Nombre.
Written and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga who was born in
the USA but whose parentage was Swedish/Japanese. Fukunaga was responsible for
directing all eight of the first season of the award winning HBO TV series True Detective, a truly remarkable piece
of work, as is his debut feature film.
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| El Caspers only chance in life is joining Mara Salvatrucha and its leader Lil Mago. |
Seeking the promise of America, a beautiful young Honduran
woman, Sayra, joins her father and uncle on an odyssey to cross the gauntlet of
the Latin American countryside en route to the United States. Along the way she
crosses paths with a teenage Mexican gang member, El Casper, who is manoeuvring
to outrun his violent past and elude his unforgiving former associates.
Together they must rely on faith, trust and street smarts if they are to
survive their increasingly perilous journey towards the hope of new lives[1].
Shot mostly in Mexico City and filmed in Spanish, the film's
title means "Nameless", it won several awards, including prizes for
directing and cinematography at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. It evokes
the hardship and violence of a society that gives no real hope for a future or
a life. The only opening for disinfected youth is to join a gang where your
life can be cut short at any time. Who can blame these people and others in the
same position from trying to improve their lives even at great risk to
themselves demonstrated in this excellent movie and in the BBC news programmes
over the past months?
Several of the extras used in the film were actual migrants.
Fukunaga said of working with them, "I
didn't have to tell them anything—they know how to sit on top of a train”
The film stars Paulina Gaitan (We
Are What We Are) as Sayra and Edgar Flores as El Casper. The executive
producers included Diego Luna and Gael
García Bernal. This harrowing authentic movie is recommended for those of
you that profess a social conscience and in fact it would not do the back
bottoms that don’t have a social conscience any harm to watch it either.
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