Los bastardos (2008)

A 24 hour period in the lives of Fausto and Jesus, two undocumented Mexican day-laborers in L.A. Each day another task, each day the same pressure to find money. They go about their daily ... See full summary »

Director:

Amat Escalante

Writers:

Amat Escalante, Martín Escalante

Stars:

Jesus Moises Rodriguez, Rubén Sosa, Nina Zavarin

6 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jesus Moises Rodriguez	...	Jesús
Rubén Sosa	...	Fausto
Nina Zavarin	...	Karen
Kenny Johnston	...	Construction Boss
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Albaca
Teri Booker
Aron Briggs	...	Racist BBQ kid
Trevor Glen Campbell	...	Trevor
Rodolfo Carreon
Darren Collins
Antonio De La Torre
Helena De Lang
Irana De Lang
Michael De Lang
Erik Deckard

Storyline

A 24 hour period in the lives of Fausto and Jesus, two undocumented Mexican day-laborers in L.A. Each day another task, each day the same pressure to find money. They go about their daily routine, standing on the corner at the Home Improvement Store waiting for work to come. Today, the job they are given is well paid compared to their poor usual wages. Today, Jesus carries a shotgun inside his backpack.

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Plot Keywords:

mexican | day laborer | vomiting | mexican immigrant | strawberry | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [France]

Country:

Mexico France USA

Language:

Spanish English

Release Date:

28 January 2009 (France)

Also Known As:

The Bastards

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mantarraya Producciones, Tres Tunas, No Dream Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

[All trivia items for this title are spoilers.]

User Reviews

Stretched

Los Bastardos offers a sharp view of some of the realities of America and its "lower class citizens". Director/writer Amat Escalante certainly has things to say but unfortunately, his narrative is stretched and the pace becomes contemplative and somewhat aimless.

We sense a lot of sincerity in the movie, particularly the first half as we follow Jesús and Fausto and their lives as illegal workers. But even then, the viewer will have to sustain interest throughout long, static scenes and few lines of scripts. Most of the actors seem to somewhat improvise their lines, adding to a sense of documentary. There's no sense that these are Oscar-material actors but rather real people, which breathes a sense of reality.

What was already an overly stretched movie takes a turn for the worse in the second half, where the slow pace halts to a crawl. Most people will have already mentioned the famous "shocking scene", which I do not find that shocking, just gruesome. You get the feeling much of the interest/acclaim for this film was drawn from that scene which I find unfortunate.

Amat Escalante is a name to remember for the sincerity put in this movie, the visceral nature of this work but I can't help but think he's a better director than writer and that shooting other people's script might be the way to go for him.

Los Bastardos may be worthwhile if the synopsis drew your interest and if you are an attentive viewers but do not expect a masterpiece. This is a below average movie that needed a more fleshed out story.