Sin Nombre (2009)

the audience applauded

Redundant and unnecessary.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film starts out captivating your attention by throwing yourself into the perspective of a Gangster. I like the real-life sense that you get from watching the movie. I didn't dislike anything about the movie. I loved how professional and high-budget the film seemed. The film seemed not American because there wasn't a happy ending. Usually, in an American film there are basic guidelines that the movies follow. Culturally, the difference between Mexico and America was evident from the gangs to the clothes the actors wore. It was easy to see that crime overtakes at least some cities in Mexico. The perspective I take from this film is that the only reason these people wanted to cross the border was for hope of a better life. The people who actually stay in Mexico are the gangs, it seemed to me that those who wanted to leave were the ones not in gangs. If I was in Smiley's position I probably would've done exactly what he did. It seems that if you are not in a gang that you are in danger. I wouldn't change the ending; what made the movie so good was the realistic feel that the ending could've happened in real life.

I really enjoyed this film because it tells us a great story. It starts off a bit dull and looks like a movie with a low budget and people that aren't star actors, but it shows us how people live in different parts of the world. For example, the gang violence in Mexico is frowned upon by the general population of Mexico.The gangs are in control but in this movie they did not seem to bother the ordinary people as much as their own gang members, rival gangs and the people they know or love. I can only recall gangs bothering ordinary people once or twice through out the whole film. This movie really keeps you up on your feet cause you never know whats going to happen next with the series of twists and turns as the movie progresses. This movie is not like any ordinary American film that we are used to, there is no happy ending. Although I felt like the ending was not as harsh as it could have been; to me the ending of the film was moderate. I learned many things from this film of which I did not know before. One being that the border is not actually a giant wall. In the movie it was portrayed as a.... The movie made me more knowledgeable about their living conditions in Mexico and the great deal of pain that people in Mexico go through to come to America.The movie made me think about how the lives of some people in Mexico can be so poor because of the gangs or by even having gangs in the area. However, some people in Mexico do live normal lives with no gangs related activity around them.

I have just watched this movie and its one of the best thriller/drama I have ever watched. Not only because it does not come from Hollywood, it is because the movie itself. Great acting, cruel, real, brutally honest. The story it is simple, a family looking for the American dream and a gang trying to escape from his past and present actions.Even the story it is simple, it is a really power and deep movie.Even, I am Spaniard and I have had some problems to understand some dialogues so I suggest to download and use the subtitles to understand all the key scenes and understand the film moral.Enjoy.

When I first put this on, I had no idea what to expect, I thought it was going to be another film about humble hardworking immigrants and their struggle to cross to the U.S., but I was completely surprised by what I saw. It follows a gang member as he tries to get a girl across the border, as his last selfless act now that he is a marked man by his former gang for breaking their code. What I loved was some of the homages to the Western genre, the hero has a shady past and despite the fact that he has two names, neither are valid in society or as a gang member(hence the title Sin Nombre), he's making a run for the border (ironically he's heading north to civilization to escape his past), and a girl is complicating his goals. The only complain I have is about the romance growing between the two main characters, I felt it wasn't well developed, but the girl was very naive and is young in the ways of love so I forgave her for it. The ending left me a bit polarized, a part of me wanted the hero to live, bury his past and live happily but I understood that a man like himself will never find peace or be able to lead a normal life. That is why in many westerns the hero walks off into the sunset, he can't offer anything to civilization so he has to move on to another outlaw city, in this one the hero can't offer anything to neither civilization nor his "home boys" and so he is killed with at least one redeeming act. The only thing I wish was that the hero took his death head on, where he didn't run and all he said was "you got me", taking his death with pride; but his running was to buy the girl some time to get across not to save himself, he knows he's doomed. I loved the way it was shot, and at one point I exclaimed during mid viewing "my god, this has to be the most dangerous film ever made" because of all the shots of people riding on the train. It felt really genuine and there was no CGI to take me out of scene. The only thing I wish was that the director would of added a POV shot during the hero's death scene, looking on to the girl across the river and dying happily as his mission is complete, but maybe it was too obvious or clichéd. Anyhow, I"m looking forward to more films by Cary Fukunaga, he looks like a very promising director and I wish him the best.