El Norte

A lovely, sad and simple tale told by director Gregory Nava about a brother and sister who escape the persecution of the indigenous population by the junta in Guatemala in the early eighties. After their father is murdered and mother taken prisoner, they travel across Mexico to "the North" (El Norte) - the USA. They enter the country by taking a harrowing journey through a disused sewage pipe. They eventually reach Los Angeles where they become part of the large number of illegal workers and find that they have escaped one form of suppression just to become trapped in another. Its a sad and ultimately not very hopeful tale, particularly from the current perspective where almost thirty years later not all that much has changed. Immigrants continue to enter the US illegally in the hope of finding a better life and general find life pretty tough even if they manage to avoid being sent back. True, conditions in Guatemala appear to have improved to the extent that it seems to be a well-functioning democracy, but it still suffers from a great deal of crime, fuelled by the drug trade. Nonetheless, El Norte is well-made and its sad theme is lifted by some beautiful cinematography using the broad palette of Mexico and Central America.