Non è peccato

A slice of life from a very recognizable other planet. The Echo Park section of Los Angeles. It could be so many other places and at the same time it couldn't be anywhere else. New life and death co-mingling in almost perfect harmony. Love coming out of the most unexpected quarters, heroic gestures, prejudice and solitude. There is much to commend in this tiny tale with major implications. Two directors with a compassionate look and real affection. For me, personally, meant the introduction to a major talent: Jesse Garcia. He plays a character that seems to walk a permanent tight rope and yet he is so completely himself that you can't take your eyes of the guy because you know for certain he is going to surprise you in the best possible way. Excellent.

In L.A., Magdalena (Emily Rios) is approaching her 15th birthday when girls celebrate their quinceañera. She attends her cousin Eileen's quinceañera. Eileen's older brother Carlos is kicked out having been disowned by the family for being gay. Magdalena gets pregnant by her boyfriend Herman. Her father kicks her out and she is forced to live with her great-granduncle Tomas who had also taken in the troubled Carlos.

This is a small indie of the world of a Latino girl. It's great to see into this slice of life. The acting is naturalistic. The leads are good. There is one scene with Tomas in the backyard contemplating being evicted which is utterly heartbreaking. Both Magdalena and Carlos face a long expected rejection. The eventual reveal of the specifics of Magdalena's pregnancy does trouble me a little. It's a convenient easy way to let her father deal with the pregnancy without actually dealing with it. In the end, this is a story about Tomas.

Although it wasn't a first pick, I was able to get the time slot I wanted at Sundance to view this film. We were so impressed with the film that it was almost a post viewing panic session that we could have missed a film this awesome just because it didn't have any "big names" in it. Jesse Garcia is the next "big name" in Hollywood! Keep your eyes on this guy. His portrayal of a gay Hispanic gang member just blows all stereo types out of the water. Chalo González is a national treasure, and outshines the entire cast as Uncle Thomas. Emily Rios is also a great find, and really does a great job in her first big role. Listening to the writers/directors in person detailing their own experience of moving to Echo Park California, and witnessing the gentrification of the area which inspired the film, made this screening even more sweet. The only flaw that I could find was that I wanted to see more of Magdalena's family, and thought those relationships could have been fleshed out more to better understand why they did the things to her that they did. The entire cast was so approachable after the screening and Q&A, that it made me want to go out and do all their PR work for free! Glatzer and Westmoreland said to look for this film on HBO, so hopefully that will be the case really soon for the general public. Catch it if you can; it's worth the time.

In Echo Park, Los Angeles, the teenager Eileen May Garcia (Alicia Sixtos) has a dream fifteen years old party. Her cousin Magdalena (Emily Rios) is fourteen years old and will be the next in the family to celebrate the "Quinceañera". However, her father is the local preacher and security guard and cannot afford and expensive party and Magdalena will wear her cousin's dress and dreams on arriving in a limousine like Eileen did. However, her dreams are shattered when she finds that she is pregnant of her boyfriend Herman (J.R. Cruz), in spite of being virgin. Her father expels her from her home and she moves to the house of her uncle Tomas Alvarez (Chalo González), who lodges his troublemaker gay nephew Carlos (Jesse Garcia) in his house, and the trio raises family bonds.

"Quinceañera" is the evidence that it is possible to make a great movie with a very low-budget, supported by excellent screenplay and performance. The enlightened character Tomas that survives selling "champarraro" is one of the most beautiful I have recently seen. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Meus Quinze Anos" ("My Fifteen Years")

2006 Sundance Film Festival Quinceanera, for the Hispanically challenged, is a traditional ceremony and celebration of a girl's 15th birthday, her transition from childhood to maturity. In this movie, the event centers on Magdalena, an otherwise role model of a girl and daughter of a part-time preacher who gets pregnant before her 15th birthday, despite her claims to have never had intercourse. To manage the conflict at home, she moves in with her Great Uncle Tomas, who also houses Carlos, her tattooed and tough-guy cousin who is also estranged from his parents, mainly because he is gay.

By all accounts, this movie ought to be panned. The script, while evenly paced, never rings true. Most of the characters are flat. The acting lacks inspiration or enthusiasm. But still, I was moved, because at the heart of the story is the impact of Uncle Tomas, who with the wisdom of the aged is able to look beneath the surface of these two young cousins and see only goodness. He is filled with kindness and compassion, although the movie never let's itself get nearly as schmaltzy or overly sentimental as my description of it.

I suppose this idea of accepting the differences in people—Hispanics, gang-bangers, gays and pregnant teenagers—is tired and hackneyed in its political correctness. But there's something about a glimmer of truth that is warm and enlightening. So, that said, I dug the movie.

Side note from the writer/directors: Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland are gay and live in Los Angeles. Wash is British. And it so happens that two of the main characters in the movie are gay lovers, living in Echo Park in Los Angeles, one of whom is a Brit. So naturally, someone in the Sundance audience asked them if these characters were, you know, autobiographical at all. And naturally, they said no, it was just a coincidence. And I guess I believe them because they had the guts to write these characters as not entirely likable. In fact, if Pat Buchanan had written he script, someone would have accused him of being homophobic. Strange but true.