El Norte (1983)

Director:

Gregory Nava

Writers:

Gregory Nava (story)
Anna Thomas (writer)

Release Date:

27 January 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The magical film that reveals the world between the dream and the reality

Plot:

Mayan Indian peasants, tired of being thought of as nothing more than "brazos fuertes" ("strong arms"...

Plot Keywords:

Immigrant | Mayan Indian | Mexico | Illegal Immigrant | Rat

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Ernesto Gómez Cruz	...	Arturo
David Villalpando	...	Enrique
Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez	...	Rosa
Alicia del Lago	...	Lupe
Mike Gomez	...	Informer
Jose Martin Ruano	...	Foreman
Stella Quan	...	Josefita
Heraclio Zepeda	...	Pedro (as Eraclio Zapeda)
Emilio Gomez Ozuna	...	Luis
Daniel Lemus Valenzuela	...	Encarnacion
Rodrigo Puebla	...	El Puma the Soldier
Yosahandi Navarrete Quan	...	Josefita's Daughter
Rodolfo De Alexandre	...	Ramon
Emilio Del Haro	...	Truck Driver
Jorge Moreno	...	Old Man on Bus
Palomo Garcia	...	Coyote at Bus Station
Ismael Gamez	...	Jeering Slumdweller
Silverio Lujan	...	Jeering Slumdweller
Socorro Velazquez	...	Jeering Slumdweller
John Martin	...	Border Guard Ed
Ronald G. Joseph	...	Border Guard Joel (as Ron Joseph)
Abel Franco	...	Raimundo
Rosario Cevellos	...	Fruit Vendor
Trinidad Silva	...	Monte
Lupe Ontiveros	...	Nacha
Young Chung	...	Mr. Chung
Gregory Enton	...	Len the Restaurateur
Tony Plana	...	Carlos the Bus Boy
Slavitza Yhuelo	...	Model in Sweatshop
Julie Silliman	...	Model in Sweatshop
Enrique Castillo	...	Jorge the Dishwasher
Momo Yashima	...	English Teacher
Jomarie Ward	...	Helen Rogers (as Jo Marie Ward)
Loraine Shields	...	Girl Who Orders Coffee
Larry Cedar	...	Bruce the Waiter
Sheryl Bernstein	...	Karen the Hostess
Diane Cary	...	Alice Harper (as Diane Civita)
Eulalia Cardenas	...	Curandera
Jules Segal	...	INS Officer
Perry Page	...	INS Officer
Mary Armantrout	...	Nurse
George O'Hanlon Jr.	...	Doctor Murphy
Bo Kane	...	Lab Technician (as Bob Kane)
Pablo Velasquez	...	Foreman at Construction Site
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sergi Dagliana	...	Olinto (uncredited)
Giuseppe Furia	...	Requiem (uncredited)
Pado Hende	...	Dilvo (uncredited)
Sean O'Kane	...	Immigration Officer (uncredited)
Antonio Prester	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Sabina Vannucchi	...	Rosa (uncredited)

Directed by
Gregory Nava

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Gregory Nava		story
Anna Thomas		writer

Produced by
Trevor Black	....	producer
Bertha Navarro	....	producer
Anna Thomas	....	producer

Original Music by
The Folkloristas
Malecio Martinez
Linda O'Brien
Emil Richards

Cinematography by
James Glennon

Film Editing by
Betsy Blankett Milicevic		(as Betsy Blankett)

Casting by
Bob Morones

Costume Design by
Hilary Wright

Production Management
Trevor Black	....	production manager: USA
Amanda Gill	....	production manager: USA

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Amanda Gill	....	second assistant director
Tony Ogaz	....	third assistant director

Art Department
David Wasco	....	set designer
David Wasco	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Gregg Barbanell	....	foley artist
Gregg Barbanell	....	supervising sound editor
Julia Evershade	....	sound editor
Arnold Finkelstein	....	assistant sound editor
David Kern	....	sound effects editor
Michael C. Moore	....	sound designer
Michael C. Moore	....	sound recordist
Richard Portman	....	sound re-recording mixer
Marshall Winn	....	sound editor
Robert Yerington	....	sound recordist
Jerry Trent	....	foley artist (uncredited)

Stunts
Doc D. Charbonneau	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
James Glennon	....	first assistant camera: USA
James Glennon	....	second assistant camera: Mexico
Chris Lombardi	....	second assistant camera
Gregory Nava	....	additional photographer: USA
Ronald Vidor	....	camera operator: principal photography (uncredited)

Production Companies

• American Playhouse
• Channel Four Films
• Independent Productions
• Island Alive
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)

Distributors

• Cinecom Pictures (1984) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Aquarius TV (1998) (Greece) (TV)
• Artisan Entertainment (2000) (USA) (re-release)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Island Alive (1984) (USA)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1985) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2004) (Sweden) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Hollywood Title Services  titles
• J.G. Films  negative cutting
• Wardell Animation  titles

Also Known As:

"The North" - International (English title) (literal English title)

Runtime:

141 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

Spanish | Maya | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:R | Australia:M | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Chiapas, Mexico

Company:

American Playhouse

Trivia:

This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1995.

Goofs:

Continuity: The plane that taxis up to the airport building is a DC-10, but the plane seen lifting off towards Chicago is a 747.

Quotes:

Jorge:Rosa... it doesn't matter!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Soundtrack:

Tierra Mestiza

Journey through the Americas

Like Ruben Martinez's recent nonfiction work on Mexican illegals, "Crossing Over," Gregory Nava's film, "El Norte," begins with a re-working of the Passion Play--only this time the Christ figure is Arturo Xuncax, a Guatemalan Indian and guerilla leader, who's betrayed to the landowner/elites by one of his own followers for cash money. As a result, Xuncax and his "disciples" are killed in a bloody nocturnal raid staged by the elites' enforcers--members of the Guatemalan military--and Arturo's severed head is suspended by rope from a tree limb to serve as a warning to others who may conspire against the Oppressor.

A viewer is forgiven, therefore, if he or she expects a story of political martyrdom and vengeance, since it is Arturo's son, Enrique, who takes up the machete that his murdered father (a "Man of Peace") refused to bring along with him to his fate. Instead, Enrique is advised by a friend to strike out "al Norte." And since the military has vowed to de-populate Arturo's village, this seems like sound advice.

Thus begins one of the best "journey" films ever made. Enrique and his sister, Rosa (presumably, both are still in their teens), make the long trek from their once-idyllic Central American mountain village to what they mistakenly believe will be a comfortable, material existence in California, US of A.

While the Guatemalan scenes in "El Norte" are dark, foggy, murky, and formally paced, the second section of the film (subtitled "El Coyote") begins with a blast of mariachi music and we see the pair of young travellers on a bright, sunlit, modern Mexican highway. Most of this section deals with Rosa and Enrique's efforts to cross the Mexi-Cali border, yet this portion of the movie also gives the director a chance to delineate the personalities of his hero and heroine.

Enrique is characterized as an idealist, a dreamer, eternally kind at heart to everyone. No less kinder is Rosa. But as Enrique explains to a retired smuggler, "I think she is stronger than the two of us put together." He's right. Rosa possesses a harder edge than Enrique--an inner strength, in fact, that makes her the emotional and spiritual center of the film. On a bus ride through the Mexican countryside, she refuses to close the window next to her seat, despite the protests of a man sitting behind her; she refuses to be prevented from embracing and observing life as it truly is. Rosa is a realist. While in Tijuana, she explains to Enrique that the sale or pawning of their mother's jewelry is the only practical way they can finance their crossing over to America. Enrique, ever the sentimentalist, objects. But Rosa insists; and in the end, she wins this minor argument.

Brother and sister do manage to make it across the borderline--but at a terrible price that doesn't become evident until the film's conclusion.

"El Norte" was made on a shoestring; but Nava's direction is clever, sometimes in a style reminiscent of late-50's French New Wave, but more often as naturalistic as an Upton Sinclair novel. Indeed, a scene showing Enrique flexing his muscles while begging for work with a construction crew seems an obvious reference to Sinclair's "The Jungle."

The film is very well-cast, every scene directed economically but effectively. There is no waste-motion in this movie. Its rhythm is lyrical without being needlessly reflective. The acting is first-rate, especially the performances of two of the minor players: Lupe Ontiveros (as Nacha, Rosa's friend in Los Angeles) and Trinidad Silva (as Monte, the cynical, opportunistic Dodger fanatic).