`ROMANTICO' A HEARTFELT LOOK AT AN IMMIGRANT'S LIFE.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic In the opening minutes of Mark Becker's keenly observed documentary ``Romantico,'' we meet Mexican musician Carmelo Muniz Sanchez as he wearily makes the rounds at taquerias and bars in San Francisco's Mission District. Sanchez and his musical partner Arturo Arias work as mariachis, serenading diners Diners can mean:
It's not much by American standards, but for the 57-year-old Sanchez, the money is a godsend god·send n. Something wanted or needed that comes or happens unexpectedly. [Alteration of Middle English goddes sand, God's message : goddes, genitive of God, God , enough to lessen his anxieties about the future of his young daughters, who live with their mother in Salvatierra, a small Mexican city 1,000 miles south of the border. ``Romantico'' turns out to be an immigrant's story in reverse. Sanchez spent three years in the States and then returned to Mexico to attend to his dying mother shortly after Becker began filming. It wasn't an easy decision. At his age, Sanchez knows another illegal border crossing will probably be impossible -- physically and financially. And what Sanchez can make in a good night in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden will require two weeks' work in Mexico. Becker's movie is subtle, unsentimental, but heart-rending all the same in its portrait of a kind man's single-minded focus on providing a better life for his children. Sanchez's memories of his own childhood deprivation are clear, most vividly when he tells of giving free ice desserts to kids with tattered tat·tered adj. 1. Torn into shreds; ragged. 2. Having ragged clothes; dressed in tatters. 3. a. Shabby or dilapidated. b. Disordered or disrupted. clothes. Now back in Mexico, Sanchez is selling the snow cones snow cone n. A confection made of crushed ice and flavored syrup inserted into a paper cone and mounded on top. in an effort to approach a fraction of the money he made in the States. ``Romantico'' isn't a political treatise on immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. , but a reminder of how tough it is to overcome poverty with limited means and education. Sanchez pours his soul into his music, sad songs of loneliness, lost love and missed opportunities. It's clear he doesn't have to work hard to imagine any of the scenarios. Glenn Whipp (818) 713-3672 glenn.whipp@dailynews.com ROMANTICO - Three stars (Not rated: thematic material) Director: Mark Becker. Running time: 1 hr. 20 min. Playing: Landmark's Nuart Theater in West Los Angeles
In a nutshell: Immigrant's story in reverse. In Spanish with English subtitles sub·ti·tle n. 1. A secondary, usually explanatory title, as of a literary work. 2. A printed translation of the dialogue of a foreign-language film shown at the bottom of the screen. tr.v. . CAPTION(S): photo Photo: ``Romantico'' is an immigrant's story in reverse: Musician Carmelo Muniz Sanchez spends three years in the U.S. but returns to Mexico to tend to his ill mother. The film is not so much a political treatise as a reminder about how tough life is with limited means and education. |
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