Sin Nombre (2009)

Directed by: Cary Fukunaga
Starring: Edgar Flores

*****

Sin Nombre takes two seriously haunting subjects and combines them. They're haunting not because I don't know what's going to happen next, although that's a component of what makes this film great, but haunting because they are real. Knowing that everything I watch in this movie is happening in reality as I sit in the comfort of my living room watching a reenactment is chilling and it makes an already great movie, even better.

Edgar Flores plays Willy or as known to the members of MS-13, El Casper. His innocence and sensitivity are written right on his face but there's a quiet way he goes about playing this part and its hard not to like him despite what you know about what he's done. MS-13 is a criminal gang made up of members whom if you saw on the street, you'd not only cross to the other side, but probably run in the other direction. Their tatooed covered bodies and guns in their belts are only part of what's frightening about them. It their intentions and their lack of morality which is represented in this movie so clearly, dialogue isn't even necessary. Willy's walk through the gang's camp is all it takes to understand how dangerous these people are.

Walking through the camp with Willy is Smiley (Kristian Ferrer) who can't be a day older than 13. His exposure to such violence is unsettling, not to mention his involvement. Smiley's initiation is to shoot, point blank, a captured, helpless, defenseless, rival gang member. While the film doesn't get much more violent than this, the pit in the stomach that weighs you down only grows as the the film progresses. Unbeknownst to Willy, Smiley and any of the MS-13 members is Sayra (Paulina Gaitan) traveling atop of trains across Mexico towards the USA. Her challenge may not be as direct and violent as those Willy deals with, but they are just as real. She is completely vulnerable every second of every day and the risk she faces are dangerous, even if they're not violently so.

The introduction of the characters in this film are compelling as we're shown the world's they're forced to live in, whether by choice or by chance. I think of movies like City of God on one hand and Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada on the other. Each of these films surrounds one of the two subjects portrayed in Sin Nombre. Sin Nombre covers both better and then, if that's not a good enough movie... it combines them. When Willy and Sayra's paths cross they are both then forced to deal with the dangers of both their worlds.

Sin Nombre isn't a love story, but I'd be hard pressed to find a love story with a more heartfelt relationship than that between Willy and Sayra. They care about each other unconditionally but at the same time, the movie is not overwhelmed with cliches about protecting each other or sharing their feelings about all they've lost. Not only that but the two of them should not be together. They don't make each other's lives any easier and they and people around them would have been better off had they never met. Its only the way in which they meet that suggests they have any business being around each other.

This movie needs to be seen to appreciated. I can only say so much to plug this movie without getting as into as I'd like, which would ultimately ruin the power it possesses. I felt attached to this movie. I felt like I was traveling through worlds I knew nothing about and I was facing all the same dangers as the characters. Everything that makes this movie great is everything that makes the aspects of it so frightening. The direction, the performances, the beautiful cinematography all combine into a movie that could very well be an honorary best of the decade pick.