1st I would like to say that it was not a bad film, but I was just shocked to learn that it won sundance, altough I have no idea what the competition was, it is still a big surprise to me being that its the biggest festival!
I just did not see anything that special in this film, being latino I can understand it in depth & I wasnt blown away by anything in this film?
I totally agree with DaOther. I thought that the film was shot well and the actors all did a fine job, but the subject of being an illegal immigrant is just a plot device for a few stories that end up being extremely silly.
MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!
I was surprised that this film won Sundance too. It's not a bad film, but it is very far from being a great film. I think that the subject matter of illegal immigration and a boy coming to America illegally to meet his father would have been a powerful film, but the film is ruined with the silly identity twist and the stereotypical drug user/prostitute character. With that said, I think this director will probably have an impact on film in the future.
I wasn't blown away by this film either!!
I was surprised that this film won Sundance too. It's not a bad film, but it is very far from being a great film.
I haven't seen it yet, but (and since I wasn't at Sundance) is it possible that the reason this movie won wasn't because it was so awesome, but because it was simply better than the competition? I attended FESPACO in 1999 and saw a slew of horrid flicks. The first mediocre film I saw got a standing ovation because the audience was relieved to see something palatable. It's was all relative. Could that apply in this case?
You're so ugly, it's a fact!
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I couldn't agree more with that! I said the same exact thing as you...this isn't his dad. So why does he give a crap about what some other guy's dad did to some other guy's mom? It made no sense whatsoever. I highly doubt he was all that concerned with another family's problems, no matter how "in character" he had become.
In addition, the ending to this movie was completely horrible. Fine movie, but the end was a real disappointment.
I guess the only explaination to that is, he got caught up with living another person life. He really felt it was his mom, like have you ever lied for so long that you start to believe that lie?? It Happens. I guess that's where I got that. The ending did piss me off I don't think it was horrible just wasn't excuted well enough overall is a tough film for me.
shareYou didn't understand the characters or the film then.
Juan's ("the bad kid")reaction during the argument with Diego (the father) gave us an insight into his own situation. He was probably also abandoned by his father and raised by a prostituted mother (the film is hinting that essentially, all mexican immigrants come from the same set of circumstances)
The remorse that he experienced at the end is a bit more complicated to explain.
Simply said, seeing as Diego would sacrifice his money and take the risk of being deported, Juan saw in him the protective and guiding figure of a father, and actually felt a connection to him. (It is relevant to this part of the plot, the fact that Diego never met his real son, so as far as he was concerned Juan was his son)
Just like Diego gave Juan all his money as an act of redemption, so did Juan reveal his true identity.
Juan had felt a father-son connection previous to the money part at the end. When Diego taught him how to do the sewing, it was the beggining of a close bond that Juan clearly had never had in his life.
You are correct in your assessment, clearly the other posters here did not understand the character roles in this film.
He cares because he was unknowingly using the situation as a cathartic role play, to get over some issues in his own life, which are obviously very similar.
shareI thought it was a pretty good film in general, and as a possible debut feature film for this director it was a brilliant work. Just because you are Latino does not give you the automatic right to assume that you have 'understood the film in depth'. Looking at the replies in this thread it is clear not many people really did understand this film in any depth. Which IMHO is more indicative of the viewers nature than it is of any fault on the part of the film.
The film is rated 6.8 on IMDb I think rather than 'overrated' it is 'underrated' I would prefer to see it rated above 7 on IMDb.
True, being Latino does not mean that one understands the film in depth. What I meant were the cultural aspects of being Latino that the filmmaker was trying to show.
shareI haven't seen the rest of the movies that competed that year at Sundance in order to say that Sangre de mi sangre (aka Padre nuestro) is overrated.
The script contains deep plot-holes and is quite uneven. It's the worst aspect of this movie. However the ACTING is top notch. Jesús Ochoa (Diego), Armando Hernández (Juan) and Jorge Adrián Espíndola (Pedro) delivers wonderful performances that puts to shame most Hollywood stars.
Christopher Zalla direction is effective, the film edition is very good and the cinematography does a great job at showing the filthy and horrid slums of New York.
The acting alone could make this movie a worthy winner at Sundance but if the actors had had better material to deal with (screenplay), this movie could have been as good as Amores perros or City of God.
7/10
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