Back in the mid-1980’s, when the independent film movement was at its most vigorous, Gregory Nava and Anna Thomas were a respected team of filmmakers known for films pertaining to Mexican-American culture, which is Nava’s own heritage. Among their most successful efforts was a bold and original film entitled El Norte (1984). It was produced in association with the PBS TV series “American Playhouse.” Nava and Thomas divided responsibility for this film as they usually did: they co-wrote the script, then Nava served as director and Thomas as producer. The product was a profoundly moving, sentimental story of courage with a strong political message.

The Story: The principals of the story are an adult brother and sister, Rosa (Zaide Silvia Gutierrez) and Enrique Xuncax (David Villalpando), who grew up in a close knit peasant family of Guatemalan Maya Indians. The film is divided into three separately titled chapters. Part 1 is called Arturo Xuncax, which is the name of the father (Ernesto Gomez Cruz) of Rosa and Enrique. Arturo is a coffee bean picker and a leader in his village. In their small, remote mountain village, “El Norte” (“the north”, meaning the United States) is an almost mythical or legendary place, known only from a couple of decades-old Good Housekeeping magazines, where everybody has running water, flush toilets, and electricity. These conveniences seem like incredible luxuries to these Indians who still live pretty much as they did centuries earlier.

One of the lessons that Arturo most frequently imparts to his son Enrique is encompassed in his saying, “To the rich, the peasant is just a pair of strong arms.” Arturo attends a meeting of laborers who want to plan a protest against proposed changes in their wages. The landowners get wind of the meeting and send in the military to kill all the workers who had attended. Auturo is shot and his head is hung from a tree. The military enters the village in their jeeps and trucks, armed to the teeth, and round up the wives of the men as well. Alicia (Alicia Del Lago), the mother of Rosa and Enrique, is carted away by soldiers and made to disappear. Enrique, while searching for his missing father, comes across his head and impulsively kills one of those involved in his father’s death. Enrique must now flee or be killed and Rosa demands to go with him. They decide to head for “El Norte.”

Part 2 is called El Coyote. Coyotes, as I’m sure most know, are entrepreneurs, usually Mexican, who operate at the border between Mexico and the United States helping immigrants enter the United States illegally. Enrique and Rosa must make their way north with just a little money and the name of a “coyote” provided them by a person in their home village. They might as well be traveling to Mars for all the familiarity they have with the radically different environment and culture of Mexico. Their journey is full of perils and obstacles. In Tijuana, many of the coyotes are undependable or outright con-artists, either taking the money of the would-be immigrants and then not showing up at the appointed meeting place or abandoning them in a remote spot or turning them over to authorities. One coyote tries to rob Enrique after hearing him boast to Rosa about how much money they have. Enrique puts up such a vigorous resistance that the robber is taken back and pauses in his assault to ask Enrique how much money he has. When Enrique tells him, the assailant is disgusted by how little it is, shakes his head, and walks away muttering something about idiot Guatemalans. This demonstrates starkly the differing views of what constitutes a lot of money. One encounter between Enrique and a coyote is rather humorous. The coyote insists on teaching Enrique how to swear in Mexican so the authorities won’t know he’s from Guatemala. It’s not often that we encounter a person practicing swearing. Although Rosa and Enrique seem like they might be easy prey for the worldly Mexican scam artists, they surprise us with their awareness and resourcefulness. Apparently, their tough life as Guatemalan farmers prepared them well enough. In possibly the most memorable scene of the film, near the end of part 2, Rosa and Enrique have to crawl through an abandoned but rat-infested sewer pipe to cross into the United States. In a few frightening minutes, as they crawl on elbows and knees, they are swarmed by the rats and Rosa is bitten repeatedly.

Part 3 shares the title of the film as a whole: El Norte. It portrays the life they discover when they get to Los Angeles. Enrique soon finds himself standing with other illegal aliens as contractors drive up in the morning looking for laborers. Enrique yells out, “Take me, I’m a strong pair of arms”, echoing the words by which his father decried the exploitation of peasants by the wealthy. Life in the United States turns out to be difficult and demeaning, but Enrique and Rosa continue to strive and dream. Enrique finds work as a busboy, which is a step up, and Rosa as a maid. There are some humorous scenes, such as when Rosa and another illegal alien try to operate a washing machine in the home of a wealthy woman. There are scenes that provoke anger, such as when a jealous co-worker sics immigration officials on Enrique. And there are tragedies that will bring viewers to tears.

Themes and Production Values: The themes of this film are both human and political. One theme is a testament to the strength and beauty of the human spirit and will to endure. Nava and Thomas always keep the human narrative in the foreground. They establish their characters early and in a way that compels viewer sympathy. Enrique and Rosa are appealing people and we want to see them prosper. We live their fascinating odyssey with them, though from the comfort of our seats in the theater or at home.

The political message is delivered implicitly and is all the more compelling for its subtlety. We observe the ugly realities. Enrique and Rosa are at risk of being killed in their native village in Part 1, persons to be exploited and discarded in Part 2, and cheap labor to be exploited and illegal aliens to be deported in Part 3. In the end, there is no place in the world for Enrique and Rosa. They are quintessentially alien, despite being good, loving, and hard-working people.

The strength of this film is its poignant story and strong performances. It is not a film that will leave you talking about special effects, editing, or amazing cinematography. Whether that is good or bad is something that each movie-goer must judge for themselves. My personal view is that good story-telling is too much an art that has been lost or subordinated in Hollywood to technical proficiencies. El Norte is not, however, totally devoid of impressive technical aspects. The three segments of the movie are cleverly demarcated from one another by changing up both the color scheme and the soundtrack along the way. The cinematography in Part 1 features greens and yellows and the soundtrack relies on a lot of traditional Guatemalan folk music. Part 2, in Mexico, switches to browns and oranges and a mariachi rhythm and sounds. In America, the color scheme is comprised of mainly blues and whites and the music has a mainly Muzak quality. The score also makes use of classical themes from music of Samuel Barber, Gustav Mahler, and Giuseppe Verdi. Some other nice bits of cinematography are some surreal dream sequences (representing the aspirations of Rosa and Enrique) that nicely offset the stark realism of their trek and life in America.

Bottom-Line: El Norte is both moving and provocative. Despite being a low-budget film, it delivers the kind of narrative and characters that will stick in your memory for months or years after you see it. It has that feel of reality – even if a rather troublesome slice of reality. It was listed in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 1995. It received an Academy Award nomination in the category of Best Original Screenplay. It is in Spanish language with English subtitles. Its running time is 139 minutes and it is rated R (for language, violence, and some disturbing scenes).

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age