El Norte (film)
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| El Norte | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical Poster |
|
| Directed by | Gregory Nava |
| Produced by | Bertha Navarro Trevor Black Anna Thomas |
| Written by | Gregory Nava Anna Thomas |
| Starring | Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez David Villalpando |
| Music by | The Folkloristas Malecio Martinez Linda O'Brien Emil Richards |
| Cinematography | James Glennon |
| Editing by | Betsy Blankett Milicevic |
| Distributed by | Cinecom International PBS |
| Release date(s) | January 11, 1984 (New York City) |
| Running time | 139 minutes |
| Country |  United States United Kingdom |
| Language | Spanish English Maya |
| Budget | $800,000[1] |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
El Norte is a American and British film, directed by Gregory Nava. The screenplay was written by Nava and Anna Thomas. The movie was first presented at the Telluride Film Festival in 1983, and its wide release was in January 1984.[2]
The picture was partly funded by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), a non-profit public broadcasting television service in the United States.
El Norte received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay in 1985, the first American independent film to be so honored.[3]
The film stars Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez and David Villalpando, in their first film roles, as two indigenous youths who flee Guatemala in the early 1980s due to ethnic and political persecution. They head north and travel through Mexico and arrive in Los Angeles, California via an arduous journey.
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[edit] Plot
The movie tells the story of Enrique Xuncax (David Villalpando) and Rosa Xuncax (Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez), two teenage indigenous Maya siblings from rural Guatemala who have to flee their war-torn country due to ethnic and economic conflicts and try to find a new life in Los Angeles. Still, both have hope. According to what they've heard from close family friends in their village the teenagers expect to live a relatively simple and easy life in el norte (the United States).
In Guatemala they face severe hostility: their father, Arturo Xuncax, is murdered because of his political views and their mother is jailed by soldiers. So, the two decide to flee Guatemala, the land of their birth, and head north.
When they reach el norte (Los Angeles) the brother and sister team fare well, more or less. Rosa's new friend finds her a job as a maid and Enrique becomes a busboy (later a waiter) at a restaurant.
Yet, because the teenagers are uneducated and without connections, especially immigration papers, both are faced with limited prospects and constant persecution: first in Mexico and later in the United States.
The writing team of Nava and Thomas split the story into three parts:
Arturo Xuncax: The first part takes place in a small rural Guatemalan village where we learn about the central characters and how the bigotry they face by the authorities make them flee Guatemala. Arturo explains to his son Enrique his "world view" and how the Guatemalan indio fares in Guatemalan life.
Coyote: During the second part of the film the two teenagers flee Guatemala, travel through Mexico, and meet a Mexican coyote who guides them across the border. After one failed attempt to cross the "frontera" they have a horrific experience when they finally cross the Mexican-American border through a sewer pipe and run into rats.
El Norte: In the final part of the film Rosa and Enrique discover the difficulties of living in America without official documentation. At the end Enrique has to make a choice between his future versus the welfare of his sister, Rosa.
Rosa sums up the film's major theme when she says to her brother Enrique near the end:
- In our homeland there's no place for us, they want to kill us. In Mexico there's only poverty. And in the north we aren't accepted. When are we going to find a home, maybe only in death.
[edit] Exhibition
Tagline: The magical film that reveals the world between the dream and the reality.
The film was first presented on September 3, 1983 at the Telluride Film Festival. It was released in England on October 11, 1983.
On January 11, 1984 the movie opened in New York City and on January 27, 1984, it opened in wide release.
A director's cut was re-released in May 2000.[4]
[edit] Background
The origins of El Norte is the director's experiences in San Diego as he grew up. Nava came from a border family and has relatives in Tijuana, Mexico. As a youth, he crossed the border several times a week, often wondering who lived in all those cardboard shacks on the Mexican side.
For research the producers of El Norte learned about the plight of indigenous Guatemalans from years of research, much of it conducted among exiles living in Southern California. According to Nava, "There are hundreds of thousands of refugees from Central America in Los Angeles alone. Nobody knows the exact number, but a recent TV inquiry estimated 300,000-400,000. In our own research, we came across a community of Mayans from Guatemala - 5,000 from one village - now in Los Angeles. The original village, which is now dead, had 15,000."[5]
Annette Insdorf, writing for The New York Times, said Nava discussed the singular nature of the US-Mexico border. Nava said: "The border is unique--the only place in the world where an industrialized first-world nation shares the border with a third-world country. In California, it's just a fence: on one side are the Tijuana slums, on the other side--San Diego. It's so graphic! This was the germ of the story."[6]
The motion picture has become a staple of high school Spanish language classes throughout the United States and multiculturalism studies in college.
[edit] Financing
Nava and Anna Thomas spent two years raising money for El Norte but they consciously did not pursue film studios or television networks because, more than likely, studio executives would demand changes be made in either script, casting, or both. Gregory Nava and Thomas believe that much of what makes El Norte special would have been jeopardized if a major studio had been involved in the filmmaking process.
Financing for the film was provided by PBS's American Playhouse (50%) and the rest in presales. One such presale was made to England's Channel 4 (a public-service television station).[7]
[edit] Magical realism
Parts of El Norte provide an example of how Latin American magical realism, primarily found in novels, has been depicted in a theatrical film.[8]
[edit] Indigenous view and bigotry
El Norte portrays an Amerindian point-of-view and this is exemplified by the religion they follow. An example is when Rosa Xuncax sings the eulogy at the funeral of her father and its Native American Maya religious theme. A traditional Maya belief is that life has a cyclical nature.[9] Rosa sings in her Maya tongue:
- We came only to sleep, to dream. All things are lent to us. We are only on earth in passing.
Throughout El Norte young Rosa and Enrique and their family are subjected to many epithets, hatred, and bigotry due to their indigineous heritage. When the father Arturo inadvertently kills a soldier, for example, a mestizo screams:
- That bastard Indian killed Puma.
And, when Rosa and Enrique arrive in Mexico on a bus the Mexican driver screams at the timid Maya youngsters:
- We have arrived to Tijuana you damn Indians.
[edit] An actor speaks
David Villalpando, the actor who played Enrique, gave an interview to Lear Media about what the film meant to him and why he believes the film is important. Villalpando said:
- Fifteen years ago, the indigenous people in Guatemala were living a cruel extermination that forced them to flee toward Mexico and the United States. This exodus lasted a decade and half a million Guatemalans made the journey to America seeking for asylum and refuge...El Norte became a powerful fighting element, grew an audience, searched audiences, and left the theatres to tell its truth.[10]
[edit] Production
Gregory Nava had to re-create a Mexican village in California when he and his production crew were, more or less, kicked out of Mexico during the film shoot. Nava said, "We were filming in Mexico during the end of the José López Portillo presidency, one of the last of the old-fashioned caciques to rule Mexico. One day, men with machine guns took over the set. I had guns pointed at my head. We were forced to shut down production, bribe our way out of the country, fight to get our costumes back, and start shooting again in California."[11]
Nava tells the story that, at one point, Mexican police kidnapped their accountant and held him for ransom, while, at the same time, his parents had to pose as tourists in order to smuggle exposed film out of the country in their suitcases.[12]
[edit] Filming locations
The film was shot in Mexico and California. In Mexico: Chiapas, Morelos, Mexico D.F., and Tijuana, Baja California. In California: San Diego, California and Los Angeles, California.
[edit] Critical reception
The film was critically well received. When released Variety magazine described the film as the "first American independent epic."[13]
Critic Roger Ebert was pleased with Nava and Thomas's work and likened it to a classic film of yesteryear. He said, "El Norte tells their story with astonishing visual beauty, with unashamed melodrama, with anger leavened by hope. It is a Grapes of Wrath for our time."[14]
In a scene where the characters cross into California by means of a rat-infested sewer tunnel and emerge to a view of San Diego, Commonweal critic Tom O'Brien wrote, "the scene sums up its rare strength." [15]
Film critics Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat of the website Spirituality and Practice were touched by Nava and Thomas' story and the attention they give to the character's native roots. They wrote, "Nava's attention to details, particularly the aesthetic and religious beauty of Indian culture, and his sympathy for the protagonists' inner lives lift this story above its melodramatic moments and make the tale a memorable one."[16]
Yet, some film reviewers objected to what they considered the film's overly melodramatic end.
Vincent Canby, writing for The New York Times said, the film "[Nava is] about to make one of the most boldly original and satirical ... statements ever to be found in a film about the United States as a land of power as well as 'opportunity' until its arbitrarily tragic ending." However, Canby did find the acting top-rate and noted the realism they bring to their tasks. He said, "Mr. Nava does not patronize his 'little people.' This has something to do with the straight, unactorly quality of the performances, especially by Zaide Silvia Gutierrez as Rosa and David Villalpando as Enrique, two splendid Mexican actors."[17]
Currently, the film has a 100% "Fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on five reviews.[18]
[edit] Cast and ratings
| Ratings | |
|---|---|
| Australia: | M |
| United Kingdom: | 15 |
| United States: | R |
- Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez as Rosa Xuncax
- David Villalpando as Enrique Xuncax
- Ernesto Gómez Cruz as Arturo Xuncax
- Lupe Ontiveros as Nacha
- Trinidad Silva as Monte Bravo
- Tony Plana as Carlos
- Diane Cary as Alice Harper
- Mike Gomez as Jaime
[edit] Soundtrack
A soundtrack for the film was produced in France by Island/Phono-Gram. The album was produced by Gregory Nava and Danny Holloway. The CD features original music for the film by Los Folkloristas, Emil Richards, and Linda O'Brian.
It also features "Rosa's Song" sung by the actress Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez.[19]
[edit] Releases
The film has been released in video on two separate occasions, with different video covers.
In DVD format it has been released in: Region 2 on June 15, 2002; Region 4; and Region 1.[20]
[edit] Gallery of video and DVD covers
 Video cover #1, 1980s. |
 Video cover #2, 1990s. |
 DVD cover #1, 2002. |
[edit] Awards
Wins
- Montréal World Film Festival: Grand Prix des Amériques, Gregory Nava; 1984.
Nominations
- Academy Awards: Oscar; Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, Gregory Nava and Anna Thomas; 1985.
- Writers Guild of America: WGA Award; Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen; Gregory Nava and Anna Thomas; 1985.
Other distinguishments
- In 1995 the film was selected for preservation by the United States National Film Registry.
[edit] Quotes
- Mexican Bystander: Damn Indians I hope you both die.
- Don Ramón: You have to learn to talk like a Mexican. Tell me it's a hot day.
- Enrique Xuncax: It's a hot day.
- Don Ramón: No! You won't make it two miles past the border. "It's a fucking hot day." Mexicans are always saying fuck. Fuck this, fuck that. Now try it again.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ La Factoria web site. Last accessed 1/17/07.
- ^ El Norte at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Gee, Shannon. Seattle Weekly, film review, "Crossing the border to new hardships," May 10, 2000.
- ^ Gee, Shannon. Ibid.
- ^ Insdorf, Annette. The New York Times, "El Norte: On Screen and in Reality, a Story of Struggle," January 8, 1984. Last accessed: 1/14/07.
- ^ Insdorf, Annette. Ibid.
- ^ Insdorf, Annette. Ibid.
- ^ Ebert, Roger. Chicago Sun-Times, film review, August 1, 2004. Last accessed: 1/14/07.
- ^ Cieaste. Interview with Gregory Nava. He discusses his use of indigenous spirituality in his films, Fall 1995.
- ^ Villalpando, David. Lear Media, interview with David Villalpando.
- ^ Santiago, Soledad. The Santa Fe New Mexican, "Bordering on brilliance," December 2, 2006.
- ^ Ebert, Roger. Chicago Sun-Times, "Confessions (with recepies) of the Vegetarian Epicure," July 24, 2006.
- ^ Variety daily film/television industry magazine.
- ^ Ebert, Roger. Chicago Sun-Times, ibid.
- ^ O'Brien, Tom. Commonweal, film review, April 6, 1984.
- ^ Brussat, Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. Spirituality and Practice web site, film review.
- ^ Canby, Vincent. The New York Times, film review, January 22, 1984.
- ^ El Norte at Rotten Tomatoes. Last accessed: March 29, 2007.
- ^ Music Disc web site. Last accessed: 1/10/07.
- ^ Amazon.com web site.
[edit] External links
- El Norte film review. Native-Americans are central to the film's point-of-view.
- El Norte Christian POV film review.
- El Norte scholarly analysis by Hugo N. Santander at American University.
