Director: Gregory NavaCountry of Origin:

GuatemalaJennifer Black

• El Norte is a realistic film about both the Guatemalan government’s oppression of the Quiche Indians and the hard life of illegal immigrants in the United States

• The film begins with the destruction of the San Pedro village with the deaths of several Quiche Indians.

• To avoid being killed, 2 siblings (Rosa and Enrique) decide to travel North to the U.S.

• During the journey, the pair runs into several helpful people to assist in their journey but later find the coyote they were looking for.

• [Coyote- professional human smuggler.]

• Rosa and Enrique make it across the border.

• In order to cross the border, and live as immigrants in the U.S., Rosa and Enrique pretend to be Mexican [using stereotypes]

• They live in constant fear of deportation

• The pair obtain jobs, find a place to live, and enjoy customs they have heard of such as “everyone has a car” and “flushing toilets”.

• Rosa meets Nacha at a clothing factory.

• The factory is later raided by the government for employing illegal immigrants.

• Nacha and Rosa team up and clean houses together.

• Rosa has trouble adapting to the technology and depends on her well know way of cleaning clothes.

• While cleaning one day, Rosa gets sick and faints while working.

• She is rushed to the hospital and later dies from an infection that she got after being bitten by rats during the underground travel to the U.S.

• Enrique gets an opportunity of a life time when he gets a job offer in Chicago.

• He turns this down when he hears Rosa is sick (from Nacha) and stays with her until she dies.

• At the conclusion of the film he cuts off the arm of a Guatemalan soldier as a symbol of his father’s death (died at the beginning of the movie by the government).

WHY IS THIS A GOOD MOVIE?

• El Norte shows a realistic view of immigrantes crossing the border into the United States and the hard life they live to stay there.

• Rather than being very generalized, the movie focuses on a pair of siblings living and struggling together.

• The viewer gets to know the characters and feel for them in the good times and bad times.

Cultural Context

• There are several parts of the movie with cultural context:– When Rosa starts to feel ill she goes to a “folk

healer”– This is very common in hispanic countries

• Once she realized she is too sick for a folk healer, Rosa is afraid to go to the hospital for the fear of deportation. This is also common among immigrants. They put their lives on the line just to be able to stay in the U.S.

Cultural Context

• The Guatemalan dialect is heard throughout the film

• Rosa and Enrique must pretend to be Mexican [using stereotypes] because of the inhospitality of Indians. It is considered “worse” to be a “lazy Indian” than a Mexican.– Hard work, little pay– Foul language

MOVIE TRAILOR

Reflection/ Recommendation

• This movie has an interesting story line that is realistic.

• Although it is in Spanish, the dialect familiar to Guatemala is easy to understand if the viewer is familiar with the Spanish language

• This movie has more than 1 “theme”– There are parts that are sad and other parts that are

funny along with violence.

• Overall, the story line is very easy to follow. There are suspenseful moments however, the director stays on task and does not bounce around with flashbacks or flash-forwards. Therefore there is no confusion throughout the movie and the viewer is always aware of what is happening and why.

I personally fell for the characters and really got into the story line. There are no “slow parts” to the movie and the director leaves you “wanting to know more.”