Sin Nombre

Last week I saw this film that was distributed in the United States by Focus Features, about two very different people whose paths cross on a train that carries illegal immigrants across Eastern Mexico, to the United States. Sayra is a girl from Honduras who is train-hopping with her estranged father and her uncle (who doesn't seem to be much older than her), hoping to get to New Jersey and join her father's family. Casper is a member of La Mara Salvatrucha in Chiapas (a violent, tatto-crazy Mexican gang), who betrays his gang after one of its members accidentally kills his upper-class girlfriend, and is now running from them on the trains. Sayra is nearly raped and killed by a member of the gang, but Casper rescues her by killing this gangmember (which causes the Mara to put a price on his gang), and because of that, despite warnings from the rest of the immigrants, Sayra sticks to Casper like glue, leaning on him, trusting him to get her across the border safely.
"Sin Nombre" is Spanish for "the unnamed". This film is about the millions of immigrants that try to reach the border to the U.S. all the way from the Central American countries, and the hardships they must reach to get there. On their way, some people help them by giving them food and direction, while other throw rocks at their trains and tell them to go home. Director Cary Joji Fukunaga (an American film director who has lived in France, Japan and Mexico) travelled on one of these trains himself to get the experience of being an illegal immigrant travelling to the United States, and therefore get the authnticity in the story. The film also brings La Mara Salvatrucha to the forefront. It's a real gang that has its origins in Central America (mostly Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador), and has expanded through Mexico and even up to the States (the FBI held a raid against their activities in the U.S. back in 2005), and they've even expanded to places in Europe. The gang's activities include drug deals, arms deals, theft and murder. In the film, the tragic nature of this gang is viewed through the character of El Smiley, a 12-year-old boy whom Casper takes in as a rookie to initiate into La Mara, and through the film, you see how this sweet, innocent little boy loses his soul when he's initiated into the gang, and by the end of the film, his initial disdain for pulling a trigger and watching a life vanish right before his eyes disappears.
The film is very effective in creating suspense and keeping the characters constantly in danger and constantly alone. We care about Sayra and Casper, and their desperate situations, and we also care about Smiley, the kid who tragically falls in the wrong crowd (and we are constantly wishing he find his heart again). I think the film falters a bit with the relationship with Sayra and Casper, in the sense that we're never sure what the relationship is. They meet on the train, Casper saves her from getting raped, and we see how Sayra is constantly reaching out to him, practically trusting him to keep her safe, but I wasn't sure whether to view the relationship as a romance, or as a brother/sister, or as a simple protector relationship, and I was never sure how old Sayra and Casper were, so because of that, I was never sure what to think of the relationship. I think the film needed to be a little longer to explore this relationship further and understand it better.
Otherwise, I think this is one movie that should not be missed. It may be my bias of the language and the fact that the film is telling a Mexican story (and it's also produced by two of MExico's biggest stars, Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal), but I do believe that the cinematography and the beautifully layered performances make this a worthwhile film. Also watch it to discover the landscapes of Mexico, even if they are some of the more dangerous places to explore.