De la calle

I saw "De La Calle" (aka, "Streeters) at the Chicago International Film Festival, where it had been touted as a remarkable film with chilling insights into the lives of street kids in Mexico City. It was an engaging enough film, with fairly sympathetic characters and reasonable excitement, but the director's inexperience showed. His plot sometimes dragged, his character were not fully developed, and most of all, he his metaphors hit the viewer over the head. Also, he often moved his camera inexplicably -- it's as if he wanted to make bold statements, as a good director would, but didn't understand how to make those statements. All told, it's an adequate movie, worth a few bucks, but not what it might have been.

De la Calle is a moving film about the street kids of Mexico City. Through this film we see poverty, drug use and corruption. The main character, Rufino, begins with the film with the dream of leaving the horrors of street life in Mexico City, but gets blind sided with the idea of finding his real father. We see poverty and drug use through the street kids that live under the city. The corruption comes through strongly in the police involvement in the sale of drugs. This is exactly what gets Rufino in trouble, when he steals drug money to fulfill his dream of leaving the city.

This film has a documentary feel, showing "real" street life in Mexico City, although it is a work of fiction. We see the chaotic life of living on the street in any city but what makes this film unique to Mexico City and Mexican culture is the fact that these street kids are a family. Rufino and his friends refer to each other as brothers. Xochitl, Rufino's girlfriend takes care of the younger street kids as a mother, even though she has a son of her own, that she is kept from her because she "can't" take care of him. This idea of family is even stronger during Rufino's relentless search for his real father; many of his brothers ask him why, as to say we are your family. When Rufino is violated towards the end of the film and it is shown to the audience that his attacker is in fact is real father it just reiterates that his true family is with the street kids.

In Mexican film we are living a fatalist era, which is not all that bad and it is a part of our country and our culture, like Amores Perros which is the best known, among others. De la calle is a good film, it goes to the guts of the problem without compromising deeper, which is OK, but there are many more arms to this octopus, there are worst cases.

Very good narrative, good directing, very good editing and the story is... well, average, because if your going to put a story on film, I think it has to go beyond what we already know.

More than a good effort, it's a good movie, but I would do more with the story.

This is a film that use poverty to shock. Children that live in the streets of Mexico, of course that´s a hard life, but that´s not enough for a movie. The story is very simple, but there´s not the problem, the first role actors are not credible, you can not feel any passion. Many years ago there was a Director who made a film of children living in the streets of Mexico, his name: Buñuel, the film "Los olvidados". You can see the difference, and you can understand why a film needs a director.

Gerardo Tort's "De La Calle" is an emotionally powerful film that never seems to reach greatness. The story is about Rufino, a teen living in poverty in Mexico City, trying to escape a life full of drugs and corrupt cops. The film shares a lot of the same themes with Brazilian film "Cidade de Deus." However, Fernando Merilles' experience, makes "Cidade de Deus" the superior film of the two.

Right away it is clear that Tort wanted a very gritty and dirty look to his film, which adds to the atmosphere of hopelessness. The opening shots of the kids in dirty clothes set the bar for the rest of the film. Tort went for natural lighting which gave the film a dark but realistic feel to it. The camera is held in a hand held style resulting in some shakiness, but the shakiness never becomes overwhelming. The screen was full of dull colors which gave it a gloomy vibe. Overall the film looked exactly how it should for a film such as this.

The film's 88 minute run time feels somewhat rushed through. The characters don't feel fleshed out, which take away from the films emotional beats. Emotionally moving scenes like the conditions the kid's live in lose some of their impact because the viewer is left wondering why they should care. The acting on the other hand is very solid across the board. The young actors, led by Luis Peña and Maya Zapata, feel like they are playing themselves, not playing characters.

Filled with solid acting and a gritty look, Gerardo Tort's "De La Calle" is a solid film. His inexperience as a director shows by what feels like a rushed plot and somewhat lacking character development. It is an average film that could have been better with a different director at the helm. However, if you have about 90 minutes to kill and are interested in seeing a how bleak things are in Mexico City, this movie warrants a viewing.