Sin Nombre

Revisiting the same thematic and geographical territory as in his 2004 short "Victoria Para Chino", it is with uncompromising crudity that director Cary Fukunaga depicts the brutal reality of Mexican gang culture in this acclaimed drama thriller.
The roughness of street life blends delicately with the infinite hopelessness of the people in La Bombilla, a location along the railway tracks where illegal immigrants stow away while waiting for a train to arrive to take them to a new, better life in the US. Among the many people hiding alongside the gang-patrolled tracks is Sayra, a Honduran girl traveling with her father and brother. Eventually, they manage to hide on top of a train, but pelting rain and savage robbers makes traveling all but pleasant.
Skillfully shifting genre modes, blending western and thriller tropes, "Sin Nombre" still remains a deeply understated film, characterized mainly by the respect it shows the characters it portrays. There are no grand gestures here as the characters search for, not so much a dream, as a mere chance of survival.
ELINA WESSMAN

Screening #126 on november 19 is subtitled in English.

Cast
Marco Antonio Aguirre, Leonardo Alonso, Karla Cecilia Alvarado: Producer
Amy Kaufman: Script
Cary Joji Fukunaga: Cinematography
Adriano Goldman: Music
Marcelo Zarvos: Spoken language
Spanish: Subtitle
Swedish