After watching El Norte (a great film, by the way), I wanted to find more films about an immigrant's journey to the U.S. Upon finding Sin Nombre, I wanted to like it. I was determined to watch it with an open mind and a serious attitude . . . and the movie turned out decent, for the most part, but something essential was missing.
Soul.
Before tagging me as "sentimental" and skipping the rest of my review, understand that a film about people's suffering needs well developed characters who truly embody the reality they represent. Sayra did not. I found her and a couple other characters to be not quite believable. Their struggles were obviously seen from an outsider's perspective who only detailed the violence, and not even the full violence. I felt alienated watching this film, a feeling I didn't get whilst watching El Norte. El Norte had its share of plot holes, but it delivered in terms of emotional impact. It made me truly care. This film showed the violence, but forgot to treat its characters as actual people.
The movie also came off as a typical thriller. Good guys, bad guys, bad guy gone good, etc. Where is the life? I wanted something that explored the emotional journey more. The cinematography and music are top notch, and the tattoos were a nice touch. However, this film did not seem genuine. It seemed very fabricated. The actors themselves were believable. It was the script that put me off.
However, I did really enjoy seeing the journey of the youngest major character of the film. It was chilling to think about.
Soul.
Before tagging me as "sentimental" and skipping the rest of my review, understand that a film about people's suffering needs well developed characters who truly embody the reality they represent. Sayra did not. I found her and a couple other characters to be not quite believable. Their struggles were obviously seen from an outsider's perspective who only detailed the violence, and not even the full violence. I felt alienated watching this film, a feeling I didn't get whilst watching El Norte. El Norte had its share of plot holes, but it delivered in terms of emotional impact. It made me truly care. This film showed the violence, but forgot to treat its characters as actual people.
The movie also came off as a typical thriller. Good guys, bad guys, bad guy gone good, etc. Where is the life? I wanted something that explored the emotional journey more. The cinematography and music are top notch, and the tattoos were a nice touch. However, this film did not seem genuine. It seemed very fabricated. The actors themselves were believable. It was the script that put me off.
However, I did really enjoy seeing the journey of the youngest major character of the film. It was chilling to think about.