This is a black & white movie with subtitles made in 1999 by David Riker. I was lucky enough to see it in a class at school, but it is an important film for anyone that is interested in humanity itself.
The film is broken down into 4 stories of immigrants and their assimilation (or lack of) into their new society. The first story is the story of street corner workers. The street workers themselves aren't even wanted there - one of the men tells of how the vendors & city are organizing to remove them from this locale where they find sporadic work. This is a tragic story of disunity and dishonesty. The dishonesty when an employer loads men into a truck & tells them it will be $50 for the days work. He doesn't tell them what they will be doing. When they arrive at the outskirts of the city, they are told they are to dismantle a brick building, clean the bricks (to be reused) and that they will receive .15 cents per brick. Not the $50/day they were promised. What are their choices? They get to work. On site, they bicker & turn contentious. I hope you will watch the movie to see how this turns out. This episode is beautifully and poignantly done with one of the workers, José reading a letter from his wife back home. It humanizes it. Yes, immigrants are people not unlike you & I. They have families, dreams and desires, like all people.
In the 2nd story, a young man, Francisco arrives in the city with only an address to go to. He goes there & is told that there is no one there by the name he is looking for. Not knowing where to go, what to do, he walks the city. He sees a "boda" or wedding going on. He watches the people dancing to cumbias and having a good time, reminded of his own home. He goes in & meets María. She seems serious and somewhat suspicious of this man's intentions. They talk and find out they are both from Tulcingo, Puebla in México. She eventually invites him to her home where she & her uncle live. She knows he has no where to go or spend the night. Her uncle isn't home and he asks for a kiss. He tells her that until he saw her, he didn't know why he had come here (America). She says they can have breakfast in the morning together. He sleeps on the couch and in the morning, she still sleeping, he goes to the fridge and sees she needs supplies. I'm sure with what little extra money he has, he goes to a store to buy breakfast. Upon returning, he realizes he is lost. Wandering around a huge project, he has no idea where his friend is and is once again alone.
The 3rd story is one of a man and his daughter, Dulce. He makes a meager living with a puppet show, living out of his station wagon. But he is concerned for his daughter's health & education. He tries to register her in school & they said they require a proof of residence. Being homeless, he has no receipt for utilities or anything else.
In the 4th installment, it revolves around Ana, who works in a sweatshop sewing clothes. Already, we find out right away the "dueños" or bosses haven't paid them in over 2 weeks. Ana's daughter, Carmelita is still back home in México & is very sick. Ana needs to send her money for the hospital, but cannot raise the money. She goes to her cousin who owes her $100 but he is busy drinking away whatever money he had. A friend tries to sell some communion dresses for girls at a local merchant. He resolutely tells them he doesn't buy dresses he "didn't order." Her friends give her what little they have. She goes to her boss (who appears to be an immigrant too) and asks for her money, telling her that her daughter is sick. To no avail. In the final scene, she sits tearfully immobile in front of her sewing machine. The boss sees her & tells her to get busy. She again pleads for her daughter. He tells her to go home. He yells that she is not needed, to leave. She grabs her machine & holds on for dear life, crying and saying, "¡no puedo!" (I can't!) Finally, the people around her stop their din of sewing, until at last not a single machine or presser is working in the shop. The camera pans outside the building- leaving you to your own conclusions.
This movie is VERY powerful & sad. I'm afraid it isn't the sunny success story many people want to see about immigration. I'm sure some people would say it's "over the top." But it seems that way because it is so much sadness packed into four stories. This is a slice of immigrant life that not many people see. It is so much to be borne. The struggle of life in their sending country, the difficulties in getting here. Then lack of work, dishonest employers, even compatriots that take advantage of the newly arrived. Then the additional vicissitudes such as a sick family member or no network of friends or family in the receiving country that can seem so very overwhelming. Truly this movie is a testament to the immigrants that survive and sometimes thrive in a very difficult system that is totally geared against their success. This movie is really a tribute to the human spirit. But it is also here to hopefully make people more cognizant of injustice and the lack of support that immigrants face here. Not to be missed, this movie is extremely well done. If you don't cry watching this movie, then the empathy gene is missing in your DNA.
The film is broken down into 4 stories of immigrants and their assimilation (or lack of) into their new society. The first story is the story of street corner workers. The street workers themselves aren't even wanted there - one of the men tells of how the vendors & city are organizing to remove them from this locale where they find sporadic work. This is a tragic story of disunity and dishonesty. The dishonesty when an employer loads men into a truck & tells them it will be $50 for the days work. He doesn't tell them what they will be doing. When they arrive at the outskirts of the city, they are told they are to dismantle a brick building, clean the bricks (to be reused) and that they will receive .15 cents per brick. Not the $50/day they were promised. What are their choices? They get to work. On site, they bicker & turn contentious. I hope you will watch the movie to see how this turns out. This episode is beautifully and poignantly done with one of the workers, José reading a letter from his wife back home. It humanizes it. Yes, immigrants are people not unlike you & I. They have families, dreams and desires, like all people.
In the 2nd story, a young man, Francisco arrives in the city with only an address to go to. He goes there & is told that there is no one there by the name he is looking for. Not knowing where to go, what to do, he walks the city. He sees a "boda" or wedding going on. He watches the people dancing to cumbias and having a good time, reminded of his own home. He goes in & meets María. She seems serious and somewhat suspicious of this man's intentions. They talk and find out they are both from Tulcingo, Puebla in México. She eventually invites him to her home where she & her uncle live. She knows he has no where to go or spend the night. Her uncle isn't home and he asks for a kiss. He tells her that until he saw her, he didn't know why he had come here (America). She says they can have breakfast in the morning together. He sleeps on the couch and in the morning, she still sleeping, he goes to the fridge and sees she needs supplies. I'm sure with what little extra money he has, he goes to a store to buy breakfast. Upon returning, he realizes he is lost. Wandering around a huge project, he has no idea where his friend is and is once again alone.
The 3rd story is one of a man and his daughter, Dulce. He makes a meager living with a puppet show, living out of his station wagon. But he is concerned for his daughter's health & education. He tries to register her in school & they said they require a proof of residence. Being homeless, he has no receipt for utilities or anything else.
In the 4th installment, it revolves around Ana, who works in a sweatshop sewing clothes. Already, we find out right away the "dueños" or bosses haven't paid them in over 2 weeks. Ana's daughter, Carmelita is still back home in México & is very sick. Ana needs to send her money for the hospital, but cannot raise the money. She goes to her cousin who owes her $100 but he is busy drinking away whatever money he had. A friend tries to sell some communion dresses for girls at a local merchant. He resolutely tells them he doesn't buy dresses he "didn't order." Her friends give her what little they have. She goes to her boss (who appears to be an immigrant too) and asks for her money, telling her that her daughter is sick. To no avail. In the final scene, she sits tearfully immobile in front of her sewing machine. The boss sees her & tells her to get busy. She again pleads for her daughter. He tells her to go home. He yells that she is not needed, to leave. She grabs her machine & holds on for dear life, crying and saying, "¡no puedo!" (I can't!) Finally, the people around her stop their din of sewing, until at last not a single machine or presser is working in the shop. The camera pans outside the building- leaving you to your own conclusions.
This movie is VERY powerful & sad. I'm afraid it isn't the sunny success story many people want to see about immigration. I'm sure some people would say it's "over the top." But it seems that way because it is so much sadness packed into four stories. This is a slice of immigrant life that not many people see. It is so much to be borne. The struggle of life in their sending country, the difficulties in getting here. Then lack of work, dishonest employers, even compatriots that take advantage of the newly arrived. Then the additional vicissitudes such as a sick family member or no network of friends or family in the receiving country that can seem so very overwhelming. Truly this movie is a testament to the immigrants that survive and sometimes thrive in a very difficult system that is totally geared against their success. This movie is really a tribute to the human spirit. But it is also here to hopefully make people more cognizant of injustice and the lack of support that immigrants face here. Not to be missed, this movie is extremely well done. If you don't cry watching this movie, then the empathy gene is missing in your DNA.