El Norte (1983) User Reviews

Deeply moving film--highly recommended

[enddust · 9/10 · 5 December 2003]

I saw El Norte (The North) some years ago when my then girlfriend (whose father was from Mexico) rented the video and made me watch it. I'm glad she did. It covers the very basic quest story of a brother and a sister who flee Guatemala (where the indigenous population was being exterminated) through Mexico to try and find a new life in the US. Along the way they encounter all the setbacks you would imagine, including a few you don't expect. This is a serious and dramatic film that is also not afraid to find the humor that can still occur in the midst of deep struggle.

I understand that this movie was made on a shoestring and at times it shows. But the story and the acting more than carry the day. Its creative team (Gregory Nava and his wife Anna Thomas) are also responsible for the movies Selena and Mi Familia (among others), both excellent films. I think that the real history of most people living on the earth, who live ordinary lives and struggle against sometimes oppressive forces outside their control, has largely gone unwritten. In its own small way, this movie begins to make up the deficit.

Excellent--highly recommended

One of the most amazing Latin American films ever!

[Agent10 · 9/10 · 24 June 2002]

What a beautiful, powerful and endearing film that Gregory Nava has given the general film watching public. While few people have ever seen this film, it rates as one of the best films ever in regards to Latin American cinema. Sure, the budgetary constraints can be seen in many parts of this film, but the overall artistic stamp of the film more than makes up for the lack thereof. In our current society of anti-immigration,

one has to experience the pain and torment some of the people have to experience just to get the chance to live in America. This spirit alone gives me respect for most working immigrants, even if some are illegal. Even 20 years from now, Latin American film courses will still use this film as one of its finest examples.

Coming to America--the untold chapter

[filfy-2 · 9/10 · 11 April 2000]

Gregory Nava's drama, "El Norte," is hands-down the best film ever made about the Latin American immigrant experience in the US. It's also one of the best films of the 80's.

Wonderfully acted and expertly directed, this film will make you think twice about the "invisible" people who clean your house, watch your kids, make your food, garden your yard, wash your car, etc. This movie puts a face to those people and their day-to-day struggles here in this country. It's not always a pretty picture.

Although this film is fictional, at times it feels like a documentary. It's not a documentary however, because it's also quite funny and it contains elements of magical realism.

This film is a landmark of Latino filmmaking in the US. Watch it today!

¡Viva El Norte! my first picture as an actor.

[villalpa · 10/10 · 1 September 1999]

Fifteen years ago, the indigenous people in Guatemala, were living a cruel extermination that forced them to flee toward Mexico and the United States. This exodus lasted a decade and half a million Guatemalans made the journey to America seeking for asylum and refuge.

In that time, a young Chicano film maker, full of noble idealism,honesty,and with no more resources but his immense talent to tell stories, put his eyes in this tragedy and made the most beautiful epic poem ever filmed about our indigenous nations: El Norte, a picture that gave voice to those that don´t have it.

With El Norte, the spectators of that time, became aware, in slambang, of a reality that have been communicated to them mostly through the press, but wich they had never confronted in such hard and frontal manner.

And in some way, El Norte became a powerfull fighting element. Grew an audience, searched audiences, left the theatres to tell its truth. Got into the schools, universities, into film festivals, and in every forum that wanted to hear it, and it´s message was founding echo in the spectators identifyed with the story of the lost paradise of all the poor of the world in which, Rosa and Enrique represent millions of young people of any color and continent, starving for security and freedom, those that every day start the search of the lost paradise through hell.

Fifteen years had gone by since the time we made this film, and unfortunately, the story that has been told in El Norte, will have to be told for a long time. We, the latinamericans, are in deep debt with Anna Thomas and Gregory Nava. Thank you for making, from this tragedy a masterpice.

Some say that a poem never won a workers strike; this may be true, but it is also true that some poems had helped us to keep the faith, and as long as you have faith, you have not been defeated.

And if you don´t belive me, ask via internet to subcomandante Marcos, who has been fighting five years in Chiapas, México, for the indigenous rigths, with no weapon other than his word. And by the way, in many of the towns El Norte was filmed. We thank the people who are helping preserve today our story in order to be shown to the future generations.

An overlooked classic from Gregory Nava.

[Captain_Couth · 10/10 · 5 September 2005]

El Norte (1983) is sadly an overlooked and underrated film from Gregory Nava. Before he made bio-pictures for Hollywood, Mr. Nava was a great film maker. His heart breaking EL NORTE is about two central American Indian peasants who risk everything so they could start a new life in the land of milk and honey "El Norte". They struggle through many hardships in their travels from Guatemala through the rough and wild terrain of Mexico and the sleazy "Coyotes" who always try to make a buck on the blood and sweat of these immigrant workers who want a chance at the American way of life.

Politics aside (people who have read my reviews know which side I stand on) you have to feel for these people who are willing to work for little just so they could have useless things. Ironically their hard work makes it able for people to buy at cost produce and cheaper goods. A gritty film that'll make you think about what these so called "illegals" have to go through. I wished this movie was available on d.v.d. in a restored format. I saw this film many years ago. The print was dark and grainy. The audio was no great shakes either. One day, people will be able to see this film. Until then check your local libraries or maybe by some ray of hope P.B.S. will air it once more (but considering the current leadership of P.B.S. that's highly unlikely).

Highest recommendation possible.

Faithfully mirrors the fear and uncertainty of illegal immigrants

[howard.schumann · 8/10 · 9 August 2004]

In the 1980s, military repression and civil warfare intensified in both Guatemala and El Salvador, resulting in massacres, forced displacement, and political assassinations. Thousands left Central America to come to America, most of them illegally. Those who entered the U.S. filed for political asylum but despite the reports of murders and disappearances, barely three percent of applicants received asylum. Today, approximately half of Salvadorans and Guatemalans living in the U.S. have less than an eighth grade education and most work long hours in jobs on the low end of the pay scale and their situation makes it nearly impossible to advance or make long term plans.

Gregory Nava's 1983 Indie film El Norte describes the plight of two young Guatemalans, Enrique (David Villalpando) and his sister Rosa (Zaide Silvia Gutierrez) who face reprisals from the military after participating in a protest meeting and undertake a hazardous journey to "the north" to find a better life. The film is divided into three parts: "Arturo Xuncax", describing the circumstances that caused the family to leave Guatemala "El Coyote", detailing their hazardous journey to reach the U.S., and "El Norte", telling the story of their life in Los Angeles. While El Norte does have a strong political message, the core of the film is the relationship between Enrique and Rosa.

The hardships of the journey are told in graphic detail, especially the last test of crossing the border by crawling on their hands and knees through an abandoned sewer line populated by hordes of rats. Things seem to be bright, however, when they arrive in Los Angeles. He becomes a busboy in an upscale restaurant, she finds work as a maid in Beverly Hills, and both try to learn English in their free time. They soon find, however, that life in the U.S. is not all that it appears and their situation unravels when Enrique is reported to INS officials by a jealous employee. El Norte wears its heart on its sleeve and the film tends toward the melodramatic, but it faithfully mirrors the fear and uncertainty that illegal immigrants face each day and I can forgive its flaws and applaud the loving bond between brother and sister and the strength it produces in their lives.

Journey through the Americas

[nk_gillen · 9 April 2004]

Like Ruben Martinez's recent nonfiction work on Latino emigrants, "Crossing Over," Gregory Nava's film, "El Norte," begins with a re-working of the Passion Play--only this time the Christ figure is Arturo Xuncax, a Guatemalan Indian and guerilla leader, who's betrayed to the landowner/elites by one of his own followers. As a result, Xuncax and his "disciples" are killed in a bloody nocturnal raid staged by the elites' enforcers--members of the Guatemalan military--and Arturo's severed head is suspended by rope from a tree limb to serve as a warning to others who may conspire against the Oppressor.

Viewers are forgiven, therefore, if they expect a story of political martyrdom and vengeance, since it is Arturo's son, Enrique, who takes up the machete that his murdered father (a "Man of Peace") refused to bring along with him to his fate. Instead, Enrique is advised by a friend to strike out to "el Norte." And since the military has vowed to de- populate Arturo's village, this would appear to be sound advice.

Thus begins one of the best "journey" films ever made. Enrique and his sister, Rosa (presumably, both are still in their teens), make the long trek from their once-idyllic Central American mountain village to what they mistakenly believe will be a comfortable, material existence in California, US of A.

While the Guatemalan scenes in "El Norte" are dark, foggy, murky, and formally paced, the second section of the film (subtitled "El Coyote") begins with a blast of mariachi music and we see the pair of young travelers on a bright, sunlit, modern Mexican highway. Most of this section deals with Rosa and Enrique's efforts to cross the Mexi-Cali border, yet this portion also gives the director a chance to delineate the personalities of his hero and heroine.

Enrique is characterized as an idealist, a dreamer, eternally kind at heart to everyone. No less kinder is Rosa. But as Enrique explains to a retired smuggler, "I think she is stronger than the two of us put together." He's right. Rosa possesses a harder edge than Enrique--an inner strength, in fact, that makes her the emotional and spiritual center of the film. On a bus ride through the Mexican countryside, she refuses to close the window next to her seat, despite the protests of a man sitting behind her; she refuses to be prevented from embracing and observing life as it truly is. Rosa is a realist. While in Tijuana, she explains to Enrique that the sale or pawning of their mother's jewelry is the only practical way they can finance their crossing over to America. Enrique, ever the sentimentalist, objects. But Rosa insists; and in the end, she wins this minor argument.

Brother and sister do manage to make it across the borderline--but at a terrible price that doesn't become evident until the film's conclusion.

"El Norte" was made on a shoestring; but Nava's direction is clever, sometimes in a style reminiscent of late-50's French New Wave, but more often as naturalistic as an Upton Sinclair novel. Indeed, a scene showing Enrique flexing his muscles while begging for work with a construction crew seems an obvious reference to Sinclair's "The Jungle."

The film is very well-cast, every scene directed economically but effectively. There is no waste-motion in this movie. Its rhythm is lyrical without being needlessly reflective. The acting is first-rate, especially the performances of two of the minor players: Lupe Ontiveros (as Nacha, Rosa's friend in Los Angeles) and Trinidad Silva (as Monte, the cynical, opportunistic baseball fanatic).

An important portrayal of immigrant life

[Alan One · 9/10 · 8 October 1999]

I first saw this movie in 1989 or so and, being in high school and rather naive at the time, was blown away by unromantic portrayal of the lives of two Guatemalan refugees living as illegal immigrants in California. I still find it a moving film.

Siblings Arturo and Rosa flee their mountain village after their father is killed and trek across Mexico with dreams of living in the United States -- "El Norte." The story is sprinkled with humor, but the overall theme is tragedy. The political overtones are forceful as well; the course of one's life depends more on where one was born than how resourceful one is. This idea is explored in the contrast between the situations faced by the refugees and those of Americans they encounter. Arturo's struggle to find work is perilous, and demands huge sacrifices.

Thankfully, the movie doesn't portray its subject simplistically. There are several sympathetic American characters and some unsympathetic non-Americans. However, the film is ultimately critical of America, simply because Americans have so much and give so little of it to their closest neighbours. More than that, Americans are woefully unaware of the circumstances that many of those living within their country face. El Norte is an important film because it has the ability to change this.

You'll never look at illegal immigrants the same way again

[rachelbh32 · 7/10 · 24 May 2011]

This is probably one of the best films made yet about illegal immigration from Latin America because it tells of the hardships experienced at home, on the journey, and of life in America as illegal residents. Rosa and Enrique are Mayan peasants who are orphaned in the beginning of the movie by soldiers. They flee Guatemala for "El Norte," the place where their dreams can finally be realized, where wealth comes easily, and where they can leave their life of poverty.

Unfortunately, however, it is apparent that their destiny is sealed from the beginning of the movie: they were dead the moment they were first targeted by the soldiers in their country. From that moment on, it seems as though death is trying to find and take them. In a gruesome scene, Enrique and Rosa cross the boarder through a rat-infested sewer where Rosa is attacked in what ultimately is fatal. Once in the United States, they live their lives so as to go undetected by society and live just to "get by." The real tragedy lies in the fact that after a life threatening journey across the boarder, Rosa and Enrique still do not escape living in constant fear. Rosa brings up the tragic idea that they have no place they can call home, and that there will likely never be a moment where they can live in complete and total peace of mind and being.

This movie challenges everyone's ideas on illegal immigrants--both those in favor and against. For both parties, the movie brings to light that there is urgent need for reform in immigration that will correct the injustices that millions of people experience each year. The movie shows that neither kicking them out nor allowing them here solves the problem. There are no solutions promoted or suggested by the movie, but rather demands a response from the audience to seek and find a solution.

Excellent movie about real life in the Americas

[vgs1895 · 10/10 · 11 February 2004]

Having taught illegal immigrants for decades, this movie intrigued me. From what I have been told by the parents of my students, this movie correctly depicts the lives of many of people who struggle to get to this country. I also know from working with older students, that the life shown in the movie in Southern California is also accurate.

When I taught college sociology classes, I made this movie mandatory viewing (along with "Emerald Forest" and "Belzaire the Cajun." Don't expect a 'feel-good' movie--it's not this one. Do expect to get a glimpse into the lives of millions of people who now live in the United States, and what it took to get here.

PS--Much of this movie is in the Spanish and South American Indian language (with subtitles). Block out the bottom of the screen if you want to practice your español. ¡Qué bueno! (Si, yo hablo español.)

Touching and powerful

[r-albury · 7/10 · 28 May 2011]

This movie is a touching story of a brother and sister trying to escape oppression in their native Guatemala and escape to 'El Norte' after the rest of their family has been taken by the army. We experience their hardships with them and see their fears and are constantly rooting for them to cross the border safely and hoping that they will find their place in the United States. They quickly realize that in 'El Norte' not everyone has a car and tons of money like their father had said. They bounce from city to city looking for work and avoiding deportation and realize that there is no place for them – not in Guatemala, Mexico or the United states. There is a lot of magical realism in the movie (which I'm not a fan of) and the ending is ambiguous but it is a great film that the viewer gets involved in emotionally.

Good for it's time, but a bit outdated

[davehouses · 6/10 · 17 August 2015]

It's a good enough film. The cinematography and the soul of the script are what make the movie for me, though. They chose non-actors it seems for the film and I found it a bit distracting at times.

Props to the focus of the story and that it doesn't all end with days of wine and roses, which makes me happy because I was greeted with as honest a film on the subject back in 1983. Not that it's not, but there are a few moments where I found myself saying, "Come on, really?"

There are moments in the film where red herrings are thrown around (sequence where helicopter and them crawling through a rat-infested tunnel, is an example) and the editing can be a bit off with pacing. Other moments in the story where they are confronted with a difficult circumstances that hadn't brought themselves up until later in the story, and you're surprised that they haven't been confronted with up until that. In other words, conflict arises to serve the movie and the flow of the story; they show up to hit the beats that you expect for a movie to hit. The flow of the story can be a bit arbitrary at times, which when you notice, can be annoying.

For me, the saving graces are the cinematography and the production design. The cinematography provides for a lot of beautiful imagery, with most of the film's images coming from the backdrop of Guatemala. The production design. I feel like the production design captures a lot of the culture and it establishes the world that they live in very well from the beginning of the movie. The image of the worker's feet as they move at the command of their foreman/boss as you see an alternation of naked feet and torn-up tennis shoes is pretty clever and it's this little account for details that make up the environment which I really liked about the film.

The cinematography with the character's in Guatemala is beautiful to look at and made the film for me. I guess the middle of the film and the way certain conflicts arise struck me as contrived.

The final sequence as Enrique makes it to his new job and reflects before the credits roll, was awesome and it made me reflect more positively on the film.

So, yeah: watch it.

Good concept, but why not add in acting and script?

[hbc1949 · 4/10 · 16 February 2009]

The oppression of immigrants is without question.....by coyotes, federals, etc. up to and including the employers in the USA who exploit the illegal immigrants who, for the most part, want little more than a chance to have a better life.

The biggest issue for me with EL NORTE was the time line. In the time it takes Enrique and Rosa to learn English well enough to get work and such...and to converse in fairly idiomatic ways........her disease is --what?----waiting to erupt? The bites were not the same day as her fever, right? Also, the acting was wooden to the point of "community theater is better" especially on the part of the gringos---from the Border Patrol guys to the Chicago woman......

And...would two Spanish speaking people talk to each other in English when communicating complex ideas such as best chance, green card, etc. as the scene at the motel with Enrique and the "arranger?" There are many good and great movies out there about the perils of immigration, oppression and so forth--and THIS one got the Oscar nomination? Again..a good concept.

El Norte....

[juana_macias · 10/10 · 27 February 2006]

I first saw this movie when I was a kid and it just stayed with me. There are still some scenes that I don't forget. This is a really sad yet great story of a brother and sister who come to the US and how they suffer. You can practically feel the love and respect that they have for each other, it's wonderful. The parts that most stick in my mind are the Mexican sweet bread theft, the dryer machine incident and the rats in the sewer. It's been over 15 years since I've seen it. Great actors in this movie and good, realistic theme. It is an absolutely awesome movie and I would totally recommend it to everyone! Enjoy it!!!!

Relevant Right Now in 2006

[annegroombridge · 10/10 · 2 April 2006]

Bearing in mind the problems in the United States with immigration at the moment I feel that El Norte should be watched again and reflected upon. America is a land of immigrants. The Bush administration needs to chill out and the laws need to change accommodate our friends from the south, not alienate them and criminalise them. I am an ex-pat American; an immigrant to the United Kingdom. I can only hope that the conservative right in the USA opens up its eyes and begins to welcome the brave Latinos and Latinas, as I myself have been welcomed into my adopted country. They need to learn to do unto others and they would have done unto themselves. Our Latin American friends have suffered terribly through the past fifty years as a result of the US government paranoia about the rise of socialism of any sort in their backyard. The Monroe Doctrine, which states that US interests must be protected at all costs in the western hemisphere, is at the root of the problems that led to the massacres in Guatemala in the 1980's. The film El Norte shows vividly what a terrible effect this had on our neighbours. Ordinary citizens did not realise what was happening; I believe that Americans are good people, but they are often misled by the government and the media. Now the American people have the opportunity to make it up to the Latins. I would love to see them make proper amends NOW!

info on the "mayan" spoken by the characters

[mendez_pablo · 10/10 · 8 April 2007]

I was born in the Guatemala and to tell you the truth this movie has a lot of accurate information about the happenings in my native country. The movie tells you the story of a brother and sister and the awful reality of the trip they had to make to cross the southern border of the United States of America.

The comment below mine says that the characters speak a "SOUTH American NATIVE LANGUAGE", but this information is incorrect (despite the fact that the person that wrote this comment apparently is educated enough, and gives classes in some university that i gladly do not attend to).

Guatemala is part of Central America ... the territory that unites NORTH and SOUTH America. The language spoken by the characters has vocabulary from two Mayan languages: MAM & CAKCHIQUEL spoken by more than a million Guatemalans.

Overall the movie is crude but a true statement of what illegal immigrants have to go through when they decide to make the trip to the USA. (This movie was shown in one of my human rights classes, it could be an accurate "source" of information that portraits reality without abusing it)

Best film so far about immigration

[bw92116 · 10/10 · 11 April 2009]

This is a milestone and arguably the best film made during the 1980s. Ranks right alongside the great social-realism films "Ladri di biciclette," "The Grapes of Wrath," and "Salt of the Earth." Relevant when it was released and now even more relevant 25 years after its initial release. Top-notch script, photography, editing, and superb acting. But the story and issues are the most important aspects. It's now available on a Criterion DVD with 2 discs, one with the film and one with extras including a "making-of" program and a printed booklet. What are you doing spending any more time reading this. Go get this film and watch it today. This is a landmark achievement.

El Norte (The North)

[jboothmillard · 6/10 · 10 January 2019]

I found this British-American independent film in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, obviously I had never heard of it before, but it was an easy to remember title, I hoped it would be a worthy entry. Basically in a small rural Guatemalan village called San Pedro live the Xuncax family, a group of indigenous Mayans. Arturo (Ernesto Gómez Cruz) is a coffee picker and his wife a homemaker, he and his family, including son Enrique (David Villalpando), discuss the possibility of going to the United States for a better life. Arturo has attempted to form a labour union among the workers, but one of the co-workers is bribed to betray them, they are murdered by government troops, and Arturo's severed head is seen hanging from a tree. Enrique learns that many villagers have been rounded up by soldiers, so he and his sister Rosa (Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez) decide to flee Guatemala and head to the north. The two teenagers travel through Mexico, they try to get a lift in the back of a truck but fail to convince the Mexican truck driver (Emilio Del Haro) that they are indigenous Mexicans. But they succeed in convincing a U.S. Border Patrol officer by copiously peppering their responses with the Mexican swearing, as suggested by a friend who knows how all Mexicans speak. They make another attempt to cross the U.S.-Mexican border, but it is a gruelling experience as they are forced to crawl through a sewer pipe, where dozens of rats inhabit, but they are successful. Rosa and Enrique discover the difficulties of living in America without official documentation, they start in a cheap motel in San Diego, before continuing further north to settle in Los Angeles. The brother and sister team find work and a place to live and initially feel good about their decision. However, Rosa is nearly captured during an immigration raid and must find a new job, she finds work as a domestic, but is confused by how to use a washing machine. Enrique becomes a restaurant busboy, and he improves his English with language classes, he is promoted to a position as a waiter's assistant. He is later approached by a wealthy businesswoman who has a better-paying job for him in Chicago as a foreman, he initially declines, but his jealous co-worker reports him to immigration. As Enrique meets the businesswoman and decides to take the position, Rosa becomes gravely ill with typhus contracted from the rat bites she received during their border crossing. Enrique is informed by a friend that she may be dying, he initially wants to go ahead and catch the flight to Chicago, but he makes the tough decision to lose the opportunity to be by his sister's side. As Enrique visits the hospital, Rosa laments that she will not live to enjoy the fruits of their harrowing journey to America, and sums up that in their own land they have no home, in Mexico there is only poverty, and in the U.S. they are unaccepted, she questions if they will ever find a home, but suggests they will find a home when they die. Rosa dies peacefully, and Enrique waits with other day-labour hopefuls in a parking lot, offering his services, he is temporarily employed once again, but he is distracted by haunting images of his sister's lost desires for a better life. The final shot is a severed head hanging from a rope in a tree, like the one seen at the beginning, it is shadowed, so it is unclear whose head it is, perhaps it is the same head as before, perhaps Enrique committed suicide? Also starring Alicia del Lago as Lupe Xuncax, Lupe Ontiveros as Nacha, Trinidad Silva as Monte Bravo, Enrique Castillo as Jorge, Ugly Betty's Tony Plana as Carlos, Diane Cary as Alice Harper and Mike Gomez as Jaime. The performances of Villalpando and Gutierrez as the Latino brother and sister peasants are well done, it is a simple story of siblings on an arduous trek to find the promised land, but this is filled with both optimism and despair, it is sobering glimpse of reality and has almost a documentary style, which adds to the feel of it, all in all it is an interesting drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. Good!

heartrending, unforgettable film

[royg-4 · 9/10 · 4 May 2008]

Two young and completely naive Guatemalan Indians are forced to flea their small village after their father is shot by government soldiers in a raid and their mother taken away.

They make the trip north through Mexico to El Norte, the land of promise.

This is a heartrending and unforgettable film, with occasional hilarity, of their journey and their life. Starting out simply you are soon completely drawn into their story, from the journey to their new life in San Diego as they attempt to adapt to El Norte, set in the larger context of the Latino and Mexican immigrant experience.

I saw this film in its initial theatrical release in 1983, and a recent viewing reveals it has not dimmed. Its low budget origins are once or twice obvious, but are completely inconsequential for a film of this magnitude and quality.

Nominated for the Best Screenplay in 1985. The first Oscar nomination for an independent film. Winner of numerous other awards. (And all this before Sundance and the plethora of festivals today.)

Selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, 1995.

The overwhelmingly superb reviews here and at amazon are no accident.

(It's completely scandalous that a DVD has not been officially available here in the US since forever. However, you can purchase one based on the Australian DVD release at amazon or on ebay that will play on US machines. Just make sure it's designated region 1.)

Tragic irony

[anyah_m · 16 July 2001]

El Norte is a tragic story of the struggle to escape the throws of migrant labor in Guatemala to a better life in the US. The lives of the two main characters become seemingly better in the US, but when tragedy strikes, a man once again becomes a laborer. He is no better off than when he was in Guatemala. What an enlightening story of false hopes and pierced dreams of the overrated United States.

Allegorical: When a Bird Squawks, Someone Will Be Betrayed

[romanorum1 · 8/10 · 1 December 2010]

In the first part of this moving film, a macaw caws in Guatemala, signaling a treacherous act. In the last part, in the USA, a parrot squawks, signaling another betrayal. In Guatemala, a teen-aged Mayan girl washes clothes by hand and lays them out on the grass to dry out in the sun. Later she does the same task in the USA after being frustrated by a complicated washing machine's instructions. These are examples of the movie's effective repeated scenes. El Norte takes place during a difficult time in Guatemala – there is a civil war that will take the lives of 200,000 Indians.

This motion picture is about two Mayan Indian teenagers – a brother and sister – who attempt to flee persecution in their native Guatemala to get to the promised land – "El Norte" (The North), the USA. Filmed with so much empathy for the two attractive teens, one wants to cheer for them to succeed somehow, even with the odds stacked against them. There are three main sections: I. Arturo Xuncax (Guatemala), II. El Coyote (Mexico), and III. El Norte (the USA). In Part I, life is pictured among native Indians in the colorful village of San Pedro. Families have dinner by candlelight; there is no electricity or plumbing. Each person has a different task. In the first scene, native Mayans from the village pick coffee beans under the watchful eye of an armed foreman. The foreman whips out his pistol and shoots into the air, signaling that the shift is over. Folks make some money but the hours are long and the work is backbreaking. Arturo and others in the village set up a secret meeting to form a protest, but he is treacherously betrayed and government troops surge into the village with the intention of killing any dissenters. Arturo Xuncax is among those killed; his head is hung from a tree. Later the troops return and take away Arturo's wife, Lupe (also to be liquidated). When Rosa, her daughter returns to their modest home, the place is inundated with white butterflies, signaling chaos (in Mayan folklore). After the loss of their parents and aware that their lives are in danger, Rosa and her brother Enrique decide to flee San Pedro and go to the USA via Mexico.

In Part II the travails of the two Indian teens are manifested as they pretend to appear as Mexicans (who fiercely protect their border with Guatemala). "You have to learn to swear if you want to pass as Mexicans," they are told by a truck driver. Their naiveté and innocence are so obvious: Rosa and Enrique are devout Catholics and do not swear. But they are easy prey and fall under the spell of Mexican human smugglers ("coyotes"), who have dubious intentions. Bother and sister are caught by US customs agents, and are sent back across the border into Mexico. To pass as Mexicans instead of Guatemalans they had to fool the US customs agents by lying and swearing. One wishes that someone would have understood the situation and had advised them that they could have applied for USA citizenship as political dissenters through a customs process. Anyway Rosa, realizing that they will need to finance the border crossing, convinces Enrique that they will have to pawn her mother's valuable necklace (an heirloom that was made with gold and silver coin). After finally locating an "honest coyote," Rosa and Enrique make a harrowing escape under ground in an old drainage pipe/sewer (now blocked) that is infested with rats (undiseased laboratory rats were used for the scene).

In Part III Rosa and Enrique are in the new land (Los Angeles). Monte, a Mexican-American who runs the aptly named Shady Acres Motel, shows them their new quarters, an absolutely disgusting and filthy motel apartment that at the least has electricity and plumbing. What a contrast to the simple but clean and colorful home that was left behind! Despite the difficult cultural and language barriers, the two protagonists remain undaunted and are determined to make the best of the circumstances. Every morning various vehicles pull into the motel parking lot to pick up illegal immigrants for assorted working assignments. Rosa gets a job as a stitcher in a clothing factory run by a Korean, and after a raid, changes work to be a home-keeper. She becomes friendly with Nacha, a nice Mexican woman, who knows a bit more about the new land. During lunch, Rosa notes that a busy LA street is packed with Mexicans, Central, and South Americans. "Where are the gringos," she asks. The answer, of course, is that they are in "their area" of the city. Meanwhile Enrique gets a very lucky break. He lands a decent position as a busboy in an upscale restaurant. His amiability and eagerness help him to move up the ladder. But Carlos, a Mexican-American employee who does not understand Spanish, is jealous and, as a "pocho," betrays him to the authorities. His parrot squawks. Enrique and a new friend barely escape a raid.

Brother and sister clean up the apartment and take an evening course in English that is taught by a Japanese-American woman. While Rosa and Enrique have survived, and are not in danger of being killed for any political beliefs, they have no home and have no real support system. But Enrique has made such a good overall impression that Monte's American contacts have a great opening for him. In fact, he can obtain the ultimate prize, the green card, except that the opportunity lies in far away Chicago. Can Enrique really leave his sister alone? Soon Rosa is dying, both emotionally and of disease emanating from her previous contacts with the rats. In her hospital bed she whispers to her brother, "Enrique, we have no home." In the end there is Enrique, with "strong arms," digging a trench with a construction crew under the watchful eyes of a stern Mexican-American. He is now alone.

Too Hard to Follow Two Angels to The North

[trangibm · 1/10 · 24 March 2014]

I came to USA as an immigrant myself but I have no sympathy for this movie. The director has a good story, but what represented in front of my eyes was just a monotonous boredom. I totally understand the hardship of an immigrant before, during, and after the escape. I did not "see" it here. The journey in this movie was too easy, except for the mice scene, everything was just like a walk in the park. Mexico was just a hitch hiking really. Moreover, I could not stand those clunky and stupid dialogs, say it like normal human beings please. I have some words for the director, Gregory Nava: Life is Hard, so be Real. Please watch Iranian or Japanese movies and learn form them. Writing this, I could hear the Kurdistani kids in A Time For Drunken Horses, those sounds give me hope even among hopelessness. I am always an immigration advocate but judging this movie on its merit, it's a waste of my time.

A Beautiful Film!

[sfriedman-4 · 10/10 · 19 October 2006]

This is a movie that will make you understand what it is REALLY like to cross the border from Mexico. As a Spanish teacher and film buff, I have seen this movie too many times to count. Every single time I see it I find deeper and deeper layers of meaning. The cinematography is superb, the actors play their roles perfectly. There is so much beauty and symbolism. I don't know why this movie is not on a list of top films of all time, but it is my absolute favorite film. Watch for the close-ups of the hands, the placement of the hats, the repetition of the music. I have never seen such a stark juxtaposition of the culture of the poor rural areas of Central America with the the culture of "El norte" (the North). This film is beautiful and haunting. You must see it!

Outstanding Story of Immigration!

[Gunn · 10/10 · 15 May 2009]

This film will enlighten all who despise illegal immigrants to the U.S.A. I am one who is concerned about illegal immigrants crossing our borders by the thousands every day. This movie illustrates just what these immigrants endure and risk to go to El Norte (The North). Gregory Nava has created a masterpiece of low budget film-making with the help of cinematographer James Glennon and his co-writer Anna Thomas. The visuals are stunning it takes place in a small Central American village in Guatemala (western Mexico stands in for off-limits Guatemala). It is a small Indian village where locals speak Ki'iche instead of Spanish. Local farmers rebel when the military begins partitioning their land resulting in the deaths of many farmers. Rosa & Enrique Xuncax see their father killed and their mother taken away and incarcerated. They are next, and the know it. They decide to run off to El Norte, the dreamland their mother often swooned about. Thus begins a perilous trek and an adventurous journey to the U.S.A./the Promised Land. Only the poverty and danger of Mexico stands in their way. Newcomers Zaide Silvia Gutierrez and David Villalpando are superb as the leads and they steal and break your heart. This is a truly stunning film! It is now out on Criterion DVD and includes a 2-hour documentary of what this crew endured in the making of El Norte. I highly recommend it.