Sin Nombre

aka: Without Name
Mexico / USA 2008, 96 minutes
Dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga
In Spanish with English subtitles
Rating: [R16]
Genres: Foreign Cinema, Suspense/Crime

Topics: Indigenous & Minority Cultures.

Feat. Paulina Gaitan, Edgar Flores

Aroview: Honduran teenagers brave Mexican gangs and border patrols as they attempt to illegally emigrate to the US in this superbly mounted, serious-minded thriller.

The perilous journey north is largely train-bound, and exceptionally handled on all fronts by American writer/director Fukunaga, who spent two years researching the material on location with gangsters and itinerents. Though the gang-related material may be off-putting for some, the despairing, chaotic circumstances are charged with cinematic bravado and centred by sympathetic characters, who - in our only complaint - perhaps deserved more running time. Executive produced by Mexican stars Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal.

NZ International Film Festival 2009