Norteado-Northless (2009)

Directed by: Rigoberto Perezcano | 95 minutes | drama | Actors: Harold Torres, Alicia Laguna, Sonia Couoh, Luis Cardenas

After a number of documentaries (for example ‘XV en Zaachila’ (2002) and ‘El niño y sus necesidades básicas’ (1999)), Rigoberto Pérezcano makes his debut as a fiction director with this modest but intense feature film ‘Norteado’. It is clear to notice that the director has a documentary film eye, which is expressed in the sober, realistic style as well as the committed and personal theme. Director Pérezcano, like the main character, comes from Oaxaca, a state in the south of Mexico, from where many Mexicans start their journey north. The manner of Andrés, according to Pérezcano, is typical of the region where they come from. Almost shy, Andrés presents himself to others, but he still manages to get through to the men and women he meets within a short time.

After his first attempt to cross the border – with the help of an untrustworthy ‘coyote’ (people smuggler) – fails, Andrés accidentally comes into contact with Ella, an independent and difficult-to-understand woman who runs a small grocery store. Through her Andrés comes into contact with the beautiful, young but distant Cata, and the friendly good-hearted Asensio – who probably hopes to get closer to Ella. Several times Andrés tries to cross the border, and several times he ends up in a detention center on the other side of the muro de la tortilla (the ‘tortilla wall’, as the border wall is called), where the officials are surly and portraits by George Bush Jr. and Arnold Schwarzenegger look scornfully at the illegal immigrants from the otherwise bare wall. Afterwards, he keeps coming back to Ella and Cata, who are both lonely after their husbands crossed over and haven’t spoken since. Andrés ends up in an uneasy split between the two women, but ensures that nothing really goes wrong.

Director Pérezcano does not pass judgment anywhere in ‘Norteado’, nor does he insist on his audience. You could see the film as an ode to the illegal immigrants, or at least a stage for them. The visual language has a typically Latin American feel, yet manages to create a penetrating atmosphere with very little dialogue. The interaction between the different characters; the daily, almost banal routine and the scarce use of music seem documentary.

Due to the minimal means and the apparently abrupt ending, the film seems a bit unfinished. This is partly due to the typically Latin American cyclical character of the film. Where the story begins with Andrés in a bus, on the road, alone; that’s how it ends. Not much has actually changed, we only witnessed the lives of the main characters for a brief moment. Repetition is also an important stylistic aspect of the film: fresh coffee every morning, now and then a can of beer. Even the entertainment is repeated: Andrés is sitting with both ladies in exactly the same place in the same cafe, with the same outcome. This form fits well not only stylistically, but also thematically: the problem of illegal immigration, like the state of Mexico itself, has not yet been concluded. Everything is in motion; the immigrants literally; the country and the problem figuratively.

The theme has often been discussed, albeit in different forms, and yet Pérezcano manages to give a new perspective on the theme with ‘Norteado’, by not necessarily turning it into a social drama, but rather a personal sketch of an individual story. That is more manageable and gives the actors the space to transcend the generalities with their characters.