Friday, March 2, 2012

A Better Life



The story of movie is based on the obstacles that Carlos Galindo (Demian Bichir) faces: he is an illegal Mexican immigrant living in Los Angeles with his son (José Julian) and he strives to give his son a better life, the one that he did not had.

It tells us the life of an undocumented Mexican, his daily life in a country that is not his own and in a culture that, besides not being his, is a cruel culture and full prejudices. A Better Life also shows the reality of the Hispanic community in that country nowadays: we see Mexicans who are just arriving there, with their process of adaptation: and we see Mexicans that are already considered already American citizenz but that at the same time have a hard time identifying themselves either as a Mexican or an American.


The film begins by showing us the “life in death” that is it like to live for a man "withoutpapers" in the United States, a place that some might consider as increasingly racist and inhuman. To Carlos Galindo, time does not exist, there is no freedom, no moments of love, there are no moments for resting, he is an automatized human being that only wakes up for going to work and that only sleeps for waking up again in order to work more, often forgetting what day of the week it is. 

Carlos lives in a small apartment with Carlos Luis, his 15 years old son, who perfectly represents the Latin-Americans youth that is currently living over there, living the dilemma of fighting against a discriminatory and system by joining a gang or letting the system defeat you.


The boy, played by José Julian, does not represent a major role, definitely not an histrionic interpretation, especially in the final scenes, that really, emotionally, are quite strong and heavy.

We are facing a well-meaning fable, which, nevertheless, remains only a superficial reflection of the complex issues migrants pursuing the American dream face: the script is fragile, full of clichés turning out to be too melodramatic; even Bichir, nominated to the Oscars for best actor, did not, in my opinion, give such a great performance.

However, when seeing this movie, hopefully people living in countries like the U.S will be able to understand that there are people whose only purpose when emigrating illegally is to improve their lives: they risk themselves and everything that they have and know for the dream to have a better life, they risk everything to help their families.

Director: Chris Weitz
Writers: Eric Eason (screenplay), Roger L. Simon (story)
Stars: Demián Bichir, José Julián and Eddie 'Piolin' Sotelo

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