In El Norte, a brother and sister from Guatemala flee the violence of the military in search of a better life in The North, the United States, of course. The film follows their dangerous, arduous journey to the States and their often soul-crushing attempts to make a living once they arrive. It’s small wonder that this movie was championed by Roger Ebert (along with several other film critics) back when it first came out. It perfectly fits Ebert’s defitinion of the movies as a “machine that generates empathy.” For about the first ten to fifteen minutes, I wasn’t sure about the movie; it felt pretty dated to me, but once I got into the rhythm of it, I came to identify with the characters more and more. The emotional impact is absolutely cumulative and the two-and-a-half hours we spend with these characters sets the viewer up for a devastating ending and then it delivers. The ending is absolutely crushing. The performances are very good. Zaide Silvia Gutierrez is naturalistic, but also iconic, as the sister. David Villalpando has the harder role, I think, as the protective, but incredibly naïve, older brother and he really nails everything; he has to take his character from a naïve idealistic boy to a broken, somewhat cynical man and he does a fantastic job. The supporting cast is excellent as well, particularly Trinidad Silva as a morally bankrupt hotel manager. I was able to catch this movie on the big screen as part of 35th anniversary re-release and I’m glad I did. It’s easy to look at a work of art from another time and then say, “Now more than ever . . .” and it’s a trope that gets over-used certainly. But, seriously, like ******* now more than ever. Because, harrowing as the journey in the film is, honestly, it feels like things are worse now. I remember thinking to myself, “We’ve been trying to fix this problem for thirty-five years and it’s worse now than ever,” and then I realized that, oh, wait, actually no one’s been trying to fix it. Because, of course, it’s in the best interests of the rich and powerful and political that the situation on the US’ southern border stays at crisis level at all times. While this film certainly stands on its own as a work of art, being aware of the current real-world situation can’t help but add even more pathos to the tragic story this film tells. The film is ultimately really heart-wrenching and it’s a film that deserves to be seen and discussed more than it is, I’d say. Above all, what it does is bring the viewer right down to ground level with characters that represent a group that’s all too often been dehumanized and degraded and that is, in and of itself, a revolutionary act. This movie generates empathy for sure, but, it also asks you, to what end? What do we do with the empathy we feel? 4 stars.
tl;dr – film details the plight of undocumented immigrants in an honest, compelling, empathetic way; already emotionally powerful, it gains more power from our harsh current reality. 4 stars.