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El Norte

1983

Gregory Nava

Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez, David Villalpando, Ernesto Gómez Cruz, Enrique Castillo, Alicia del Lago

7.0

235

Drama Mayan Indian peasants, tired of being thought of as nothing more than "brazos fuertes" ("strong arms", i.e., manual laborers) and organizing in an effort to improve their lot in life, are discovered by the Guatemalan army. After the army destroys their village and family, a brother and sister, teenagers who just barely escaped the massacre, decide they must flee to "El Norte" ("the North", i.e., the USA). After receiving clandestine ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"It tells a simple story in such a romantic and poetic way that we are touched, deeply and honestly, and we know we will remember the film for a long time (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Dave Kehr Chicago Reader	"[It] applies a variety of sophisticated rhetorical techniques to a sentimental, manipulative story line (...) Nava is clearly less interested in exploring the tragic reality of the situation than in wringing a few tears from Anglo audiences."	NEU
United States	Variety	"Perhaps it is too much of a tearjerker in the long run. However, it is beautifully lensed and comes across as a kind of giant Renaissance canvas."	POS
United States	Matt Noller Slant	"Nava’s shrill script and his cast’s over-earnest performances render the whole thing hopelessly inauthentic (...) [It] deserves credit for being one of the first films to engage American cinema in a discourse on the immigrant experience (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United Kingdom	Chris Peachment Time Out	"The film's concentration on the plight of its young hopefuls (...) is done with much humour and compassion, so that the tragedy of its message is very bracing."	POS
United Kingdom	David Parkinson Radio Times	"Nava draws wondrously naturalistic performances from David Villalpando and Zaide Silvia Gutierrez (...) A sobering glimpse of reality, that's also an irresistibly involving drama (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS

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