Entre nos

Entre Nos is an inspiring film about a family who's bound together by love and strength. The film stars Paola Mendoza, the real life main character, Mariana's, granddaughter, who also co-wrote and co-directed the film. The film has been screened at over 14 film festivals and has won several awards. The film is about Mariana. Her husband leaves her to fend and provide for her two young children in the city. By doing small illegal immigrant work, such as sewing and dishwashing, selling empanadas, and collecting cans to trade in for cash, slowly Mariana tries to save her family and rebuild themselves a home in the United States. The theme though out the film seems to be the value of family. Mariana's strong, loving bond with her children, Gabi and Andrea, keep this family together while going through devastating circumstances. This film contains very little dialogue and is told through beautiful filmography and very strong emotions. Language barriers are no issue in this film, however. No matter what language you speak, emotions speak louder. The music is hopeful and reminds the audience of this family's strength and the hope they have burning in their hearts. This film is not for the faint of heart. This family goes through very difficult times. What I most admire about Mariana and her children is that they go through these with dignity and morality. They are kind people who put each other above themselves. Mariana is a loving mother who will do anything to protect her children. One scene in particular demonstrates this beautifully. An image of Mariana is shown sitting on a park bench on a cold night with Gabi and Andrea lying on her lap asleep. This is symbolic to Michelangelo's La Pieta, an image of the Virgin Mary holding Christ in her arms after the crucifixion. This is a beautiful image showing Mariana's strength protecting her children, watching over them in her arms, while looking toward the heaven praying for the strength to continue protecting them. Entre Nos is a beautiful film full of strength. The acting is mainly expressed through emotions, very well I may add. It is similar to The Pursuit of Happiness except more raw and real. This story is very powerful and full of emotion. I would highly recommend Entre Nos.

The film Entre Nos is an amazing portrayal of the love of a real family. In the film Mariana is left by her husband, with her two children after being in America for only a few weeks. The film shows the struggles the family faces, until they are back on their feet. The lighting, music, and camera angles make a large effect on the film. The emotion you feel as an audience and the love of a family are very important aspects of Entre Nos. This film shows the audience a side of life they many have never seen.

Entre Nos is a film with very little dialog, so most of the story is told through emotions. To enhance the emotion, lighting, camera angles, and music are very important. Most of the lighting during the film is dark, indicating how unsafe or unhappy the time is for the family. Throughout the film the camera often zooms into Mariana's face showing the tears welling in or eyes or the sickness coming across her face. The camera often starts in close then zooms out. I think the close camera angles allow you as a viewer to really look at Mariana and make and emotion connection with her. Lastly, the music playing throughout the film is a director indicator of the overlying feeling during a specific scene. These three factors made the movie great and were a main reason the film was successful in connecting with the audience.

The title Entre Nos means between us. The film was written, directed, and starred in by Columbian, Paola Mendoza. I think the "between us" is the relationship between the movie and the audience. I believe the film was created to show Americans the life of illegal citizens trying to make it in America. Mendoza connects with the audience through emotion. With little dialog the audience must pay attention closely to the nonverbal cues the actors make. Mariana does not cry often throughout the film, but you see the anguish on her face and disappointment for letting her family become this way. Mendoza draws her audience in through her wonderful characters.

The greatest part of the film is the love you see from the family. Through all of the struggles and hardships they never give. I believe Mariana shows what a real mother is like and although they are not living the good life, they portray the true love of a family. Never once did Mariana give up hope. I think the affection she shows to her children throughout the whole movie shows that hope is never lost.

Entre Nos is an amazing film that shows the real part of life. Although at times it was almost uncomfortable to watch, the film made me think of issues that have previously never crossed my mind. I loved the emotion it made me feel and the connections I made with the characters. Entre Nos was an unexpected success in my book!

A mother and her two children move from Columbia to join up with the father in New York. The father abandons them. The mother and children are left alone to struggle and find a way to survive. Simply put, this is the plot of Paola Mendoza's and Gloria La Morte's Entre Nos. Of course, it's not quite that simple. The set design, the costumes that our characters wear, the lighting, and, most importantly the acting renders the film from being just another melodramatic flick to a genuine narrative of a three real people—Mariana, Gabriel, and Andrea—who seek to merely survive and thrive as all people do. As the film begins, there is music and there is food. The characters are in good spirits, for Mariana, Gabriel, Andrea, and Antonio have come together. The scene shows a sense of solidarity amongst the family. As a viewer it causes you to ask, what are they celebrating?" Soon enough, you discover that although this is a time of warm and cheerful feelings, it also proves to be the family's "last supper" together as the father— Antonio—abandons them shortly after. So, to answer the question: the farewell to a deadbeat father and disloyal husband is what they celebrate, ironically. Mendoza uses lighting in this dinner scene that is soft and not overly bright. The warmness is conveyed by the array of green, red, and orange colors adorned by the vegetables. The characters' attires bear these hues as well, and this is meant to symbolize the vivacity of this atmosphere. The music is melodic, it has a steady and "upbeat" tempo to it—the Latin salsa semblance it bears points to perhaps the joy and happiness the characters had in their native Columbia. With this tragic event, Mendoza and Morte demonstrate the overwhelming power that men have over the family. For instance, we see that Antonio's decision to leave his family brings forth disastrous consequences for his wife and children. They suffer emotionally and physically: Mariana weeps along with her children night and day for the emptiness in their hearts that they yearn to be filled. Additionally, they starve to the point where they become emaciated in appearance. They have to roam in the streets to beg for food, looking weathered and withered. So that is to say, they cannot support themselves alone without a man, at least not without tremendous effort. Interestingly, during this period, the interior life is now dark and dank. There is no feeling of coziness like there was at the beginning of the film. In fact, there is few furniture and few things to do. To contrast, the outer world is brighter; there is somewhat more cheer in the streets. As the protagonists collect cans through rubbish dumps and sell empanadas, they interact with Americans by speaking their native Spanish speckled with some English. And this implies the duality of their personalities: they are both Columbian and American. The use of both languages shows their attempt to assimilate. Furthermore, the music at this point marks a moment of reflection and thought for our main characters and also shows them in motion, highlighting their upward progression. All the same, behind the foil of a worthless man the directors emphasize the strength of women. Mariana epitomizes the loving and nurturing nature of a mother: She works diligently to satisfy the demands of her children, she makes sacrifice after sacrifice to see to it that her children are happy. At the same time, she manages to keep a smile before them despite the fact that the world around her is cold and judgmental. The park scene where Mariana weeps quietly with her children sleeping on her lap expresses this notion so well. She had been aborted by society. She suffers miserably, having to fend for her children. Worse yet, because she is poor and appears dirty people ascribe negative things to her and her children. However, Mariana draws strength from her children. Their future and its success motivate her to keep going. She reminds me of the character, Tita, from the novel Como Agua Para Chocolate; for she, too, struggles to maintain and get to where she's going. Most of all, for both women the obstacles they face come from societal origins. Something comes in between them and their hopes and aspirations. For Tita this is represented in her mother who keeps her from love and the pleasures of marriage and for Mariana this is her inability to be understood because of linguistic, financial and cultural barriers. Entre Nos tell us that a family isn't necessarily constituted by a blood-affiliated group. Rather, it is a group who respect one another and struggle together to overcome the challenges. We as a society are a huge family. Yet what stands "between us" is our misunderstandings of one another. Our tendency to prejudge one another renders us incapable of seeing eye to eye on things and prevents us from working together for our own benefit. This is the amazing message behind the movie and for this reason I recommend it without any objections.

This movie is low budget, no known actors, no big advertising ...or any for that matter....and it's absolutely great!

yes it's sad, even seemingly tragic. I grew up very poor and it was really tough for me to watch because it made me relive a time of my life when I was a kid that I just rather forget. It's believable because stuff like this actually happens all the time everyday.

You find yourself saying "oh no, don't go there" or " Oh no what are they going to do now?" a lot in this movie. Just when you think things are getting better...something else goes wrong. At times you just find yourself telling the TV ..... "no don't that!"

It really is worth a watch. lucky for me I know Spanish so it makes it a bit better, but even if you don't it's no biggie. If you 're a "real" movie fan, this is a must see.

Entre Nos shows a haunting and eye-opening depiction of living as a poor immigrant in America. The film is shown from the perspective of Mariana, the mother of two children. She fights through poverty, moral struggles, and heartache. For example, her husband leaves her and the kids at New York to fend for themselves while he starts a new life in Miami. This event triggers the future events of the film.

As the film progresses, the viewer sees the family slip deeper and deeper into poverty. The family's clothes become mangled and dirty because the family is homeless for some parts of film. The pain that is seen from Mariana becomes difficult to watch as the movie keeps going. The viewer may start feeling discomfort and sadness from watching the family sacrifice their lifestyle and safeties they had. The film further shows the struggles that immigrants have in the US in adjusting to culture and finding opportunities to work. Mariana spends weeks trying to find a job and developing skills necessary needed to work. Her lack of work experience and the father leaving show a fight to survive and succeed similar to The Pursuit of Happiness.

The acting by the children in the movie is fantastic. While many child actors may come off as cheesy and playful, the performances by Sebastian Villada and Laura Montana come across as sincere and realistic. They are forced to act as children who must grow up and become responsible which they do marvelously.

Overall, this movie is superbly well done. Paola Mendoza does a great job depicting her mother's story to provide for her children. Anyone hoping to see a different perspective of poverty on a misunderstood minority group must see this film. Entre Nos will inspire and haunt you at the same time.