This documentary takes the viewer into the Mexican home of a man shot on his way to a "better life" in the U.S.A. It does a good job of showing the emotions of the man's parents and numerous younger siblings as they are interviewed in their home and fireworks factory. There are interviews with Border Patrol Officers, vigilantes peering through binoculars, local law enforcement agents and city officials, but none of these people are responsible for the man's death. Instead, he is shot by a doddering old man and allowed to bleed to death because he knocked on a door and asked for water. Superb editing and musical choices keep the viewer interested in learning more about this man's life and the impact his leaving home and his violent death has on his family. The film does not offer an answer to the immigration problem but, rather, shows how it affects human beings on both sides of the border. I want to see more work by this team.
Review of El inmigrante
El inmigrante
(2005)
Award-winning film documents life of an immigrant who dies on his way to the US.
13 January 2008