By far the best movie I have seen so far this year. Under the Same Moon is highly satisfying and a truly heart felt movie. It is sort of Homer’s Odyssey of Mexican illegal immigrants.
It tells the story of Carlitos (little Charles). Carlitos lives in Mexico with his grandmother. He lives a little better than most people there, because he mother left three years ago to find work in America, send money. His dad is somewhere in Texas. He is not really part of the picture. Carlitos mother Rosario means to send for him but she can’t earn enough money, and instead calls him from a pay phone in Los Angeles at set time on Sunday with a phone card. The situation doesn’t really work.
However, when his grandmother dies. Carlitos is alone and better off alone than being around some loosely related family member who want a cut of the money his mother sends back to Mexico for Carlito’s care.
Fully aware of his situation, Carlitos goes off in search of his mother in America. He crosses the boarder with some help by a Mexican-American couple that is looking to make a little money by hiding a small child inside their Mini-Van. They are stopped by boarder guards due to unpaid parking tickets,their Mini-Van with Carlitos inside it get impounded.
He gets out, and makes his way to a bus depot, but realizes he is flat broke. A junkie there tries to sell him into slavery, but he is rescued by a woman that helps out illegal immigrants get to where ever they are going.
The group of men, living in this woman’s boarding house of sorts, take care of Carlitos and plan to take him to California, but they are raided by the INS during a day job at a farm. Carlitos and Enrique escape. Enrique, one of the the men, takes care of Carlitos as they try to get to Los Angeles.
The movie is both humorous and a little tragic as good stories are. It is very well acted which may go unnoticed by people who refer to anyone with a Spanish last name as one group as oppose to have a distinct nationality.
It makes a strong point that people who cross the boarder have a hard life. With White people, who must be unemployed to have so much time on the boarder with shotguns ready kill any Mexican they see, and a American system that promises them a better life to take the worst jobs, but then criminates them for doing so. It puts a face and a story to villainized group of people living in America.
Besides all that, it tells a very human story, which has been told in every culture from the earliest to writings to stories that have yet to be told.
The movie is never dull. It gets into a lot of humor of the Mexican people. There is a lot of music, some cheesy moments and a tear-jerking ending. It is the best movie out there right now.
I have been looking for a reason to once again visit a movie theater, this might well be the answer.
ReplyDeleteWill post my comments here once I have seen the movie.