Sin Nombre (2009)
"Sin nombre" (original title)

Honduran teenager Sayra reunites with her father, an opportunity for her to potentially realize her dream of a life in the U.S. Moving to Mexico is the first step in a fateful journey of ... See full summary »

Director:

Cary Fukunaga

Writer:

Cary Fukunaga

Stars:

Marco Antonio Aguirre, Leonardo Alonso, Karla Cecilia Alvarado

12 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marco Antonio Aguirre	...	Big Lips
Leonardo Alonso	...	Policía Judicial
Karla Cecilia Alvarado	...	Marera
Juan Pablo Arias Barrón	...	Niño #3
Rosalba Belén Barrón	...	Niño #2
Felipe Castro	...	Marero (as Sixto Felipe Castro)
Rosalba Quintana Cruz	...	Tierra Blanca Mujer
Marcela Feregrino	...	Kimberly
Kristyan Ferrer	...	El Smiley (as Kristian Ferrer)
Edgar Flores	...	Willy 'El Casper'
Giovanni Florido	...	El Sipe
Paulina Gaitan	...	Sayra
Ariel Galvan	...	Migrante #1
Diana García	...	Martha Marlene
Gabriela Garibaldi	...	Diana

Storyline

Honduran teenager Sayra reunites with her father, an opportunity for her to potentially realize her dream of a life in the U.S. Moving to Mexico is the first step in a fateful journey of unexpected events.

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Plot Keywords:

mexico | boat | 555 phone number | crossing the border | cigarette smoking | 

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Taglines:

The greatest sin of all is risking nothing.

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Genres:

Adventure | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and some sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [fr] Official site [jp]

Country:

Mexico USA

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

15 May 2009 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

Sin Nombre

Filming Locations:

Torreón, Coahuíla, Mexico

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$81,446 (USA) (20 March 2009)

Gross:

$2,534,351 (USA) (10 July 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Scion Films, Canana Films, Creando Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min 96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cary Fukunagra spent two years researching the film, spending time with people on the trains and with gangsters in Central America. He also used two gang members to script edit making the slang and language as up to date and realistic as possible

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Goofs

The teardrop tattoo on el Casper's right eye is missing in two consecutive scenes on the top of the train but is visible on his face throughout the movie both before and after these scenes on the train. Interestingly, the tattoo is an important identifying mark/symbol in the movie and is specifically highlighted by gang members when asking locals if they have seen Casper as they try to find him and hunt him down.

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Quotes

Sayra: Back home, my friend Clarissa made me see this crazy neighbor, Doña Eleanor, you know, like witchcraft? She smoked this puro, then told me with her freaky voice that I'd make it to the U.S. but not in God's hand, perhaps in the Devil's.

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Connections

Referenced in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #1.8 (2011)

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Soundtracks

"En el Barrio Ya No Hay Gente"
Written by Manuel Varet
Performed by Vakero
Courtesy of Sunflower Entertainment / Jeremy Records

User Reviews

One of the best debut features of the year

Directed by the young talent Cary Fukunaga, a winner of the Sundance Film Festival Directing award, the film focuses on a combination of issues in South America, from involvement of kids and teenagers in Mexican gangs to what it takes for those who decide to leave South and Central America and seek greener pastures in the U.S.

The story follows two main characters, Casper and Sayra, played by lesser-known actors Edgar Flores and Paulina Gaitan. While Casper is the member of the feared gang Mara Salvatrucha, his faith connects him with Sayra, a Honduran emigrant that travels with her father and uncle together with the other emigrants on a freight train to the U.S.

On this journey together, as Casper tries to escape his faith and Sayra to meet hers, the main characters are slowly blending together, complete each other through their diversity, while they have to face the rough side of life in today's Mexico.

As a result, the film has a gripping, disturbing, moving sour-sweet blend to it, and is exactly the type of the film where it's unpredictability, natural change of pace, and lots of eye candy in the scenery, makes you part of the story until the credits role, making you beg for more inside.

Fukunaga's film feels so real not only thanks to his time spent in Mexico and his first hand experience with both, emigrants and immigrants he met before and while shooting the film, his cast of actual members of the Mara gang, perfect editing and combination of locations and the effort he took while filming to get the best out of his actors ("apart from beating them", he joked at Vary), makes the film one of the best feature debuts I've ever seen.