BuzzFlash Reviews
Sin Nombre (2009) DVD: Released September 2009 (4 Stars All Around). Another Insightful Film About the Horrifying Plight of Illegal Immigrants Traveling Through Mexico to America. (This is a Riveting Drama, Not a Documentary.)
Directed by Cary Fukunaga
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-- Dan Zak, Washington Post
Watch the trailer for "Sin Nombre" by clicking here.
"It’s almost impossible to believe that Sin Nombre is Cary Joji Fukunaga’s feature debut; its storytelling is so accomplished, its visual style so crisp, and its heightened naturalism and performances so textured. A social-political thriller in the tradition of American film noir, Sin Nombre is set on the border, where Mexico becomes the crucible and the fearsome gangs of today’s Mexican countryside, the gauntlet, to freedom. The stories of Sayra, a teenager living in Honduras and hungering for a brighter future, and teen gang members Smiley and Casper, for whom the Mara Salvatrucha is nearly their entire universe, become interlaced on the train to the border, a journey that will determine the future of their lives. Young Casper is already a wary veteran of the "Mara," and his new recruit is the 12-year-old Smiley, full of bravado and looking for status. The two run afoul of the everyday violence that penetrates their world and find themselves fellow passengers with Sayra on a States-bound freight, hugging the rooftop as their precarious journey unfolds. At once a love story and a chase film, a thrill ride and a vision of an apocalyptic hell, Sin Nombre demonstrates Fukunaga's skill; he envelops us in a nightmare that is all too real for its inhabitants. Sin Nombre is a portrait of hope and desperation and announces the launching of a shining new filmmaking career."
-- Sundance Film Festival
"[Director] Fukunaga's startlingly impressive first feature is almost ruthless in its depiction of the brutality and degradation confronting the hidden hordes that cross rivers and hop trains trying to get to the United States."
-- Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
"That this is Fukunaga's first film is astonishing, given its sharp script, technical proficiency and suspenseful pacing. The ensemble cast is top-notch."
-- Claudia Puig, USA Today
"Brutal, wrenching and filled with desperation and meanness, Sin Nombre signals a major new talent in writer-director Cary Fukunaga, who never flinches while telling a story so grim and sad it moves beyond tears to numbness."
-- Tom Long, Detroit News
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