| A Day Without a Mexican | |
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Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Sergio Arau |
| Produced by | Isaac Artenstein |
| Written by | Sergio Arau Yareli Arizmendi Sergio Guerrero |
| Starring | Yareli Arizmendi John Getz Maureen Flannigan |
| Music by | Juan Colomer Molotov |
| Cinematography | Alan Caudillo |
| Editing by | Daniel Fort, Shaula Vega (uncredited) |
| Distributed by | Altavista Films Televisa Cine |
| Release date(s) | May 14, 2004 |
| Running time | 100 min. |
| Country | United States Mexico Spain |
| Language | English Spanish |
A Day Without a Mexican is a 2004 film directed by Sergio Arau.
A Day Without a Mexican, opened on May 14, 2004 in limited release throughout Southern California and on September 17 in theaters in Chicago, Texas, Florida and New York City, is a fantasy in which all Mexicans in the U.S. state of California suddenly disappear.
This was Eduardo Palomo's last film before he died of a heart attack.
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This film takes a satirical look at the range of effects on the (non-Mexican, mostly White) Californians who remain if California's Mexican (both U.S. citizens and immigrants) population suddenly disappeared. The disappearance coincides with a "pink fog" which surrounds California. Nothing crosses the pink fog border, and it is said to be responsible for the lack of telephone and internet communications outside the state. During the course of which many theories are brought up concerning the disappearance of the Mexicans from Biological warfare/terrorism to government experiment conspiracies to Alien Abductions and the Rapture. The film revolves around a series of characters throughout the movie who are affected by the event: Lila Rodriguez (Yareli Arizmendi), a LA TV reporter whose Mexican parents have disappeared and is considered California's "last remaining Mexican," The temporary Governor of California (John Getz) and his wife (Melinda Allen), who as the cover shows now has to deal with the work of her Mexican servants. Mary Jo Quintana whose Mexican-musician husband has disappeared. Louis McClaire (Muse Watson) a California farmer who employs Mexican labourers has a Mexican friend and bigot son who is glad that the Mexicans are gone. As well as several members newscast crew that Lila Rodriguez works with and Border Patrol agents who also lose several Mexican American colleagues. A series of others are randomly interviewed expressing their opinions on the topics. The show also provides the statistical impact of California's Economy, Law Enforcement and Education systems.
The film's 2004 awards include best screenplay at the Cartagena Film Festival and a nomination for best film; a special jury award at the Gramado Film Festival; and an award for best editing at the Guadalajara Mexican Film Festival.
The film was number one at the box office in its opening weekend in Mexico, although it was only a moderate box office success in the United States, grossing an estimated $4.1 million. Critical reception among American reviewers was lukewarm. Ella Taylor of the L.A. weekly describes it as "A terrific premise is mangled to a pulp, then beaten to death in this forced mockumentary." [1] E! Online is less kind, stating "This Day not only lacks Mexicans but also good acting, sharp storytelling and humor." [2] Rotten Tomatoes critics on the site list it as a 29% on the Tomatometer.[3]
The trailer of the film in Mexico included the controversial song "Frijolero" by Molotov.