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Romántico review
:. Director: Mark Becker
:. Genre: Documentary
:. Running Time: 1:20
:. Year: 2005
:. Country: USA
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Director Mark Becker first became interested in the groups of immigrant single men living together in San Francisco who arrive to work, leaving their families behind. These men struggle here to send as much money as they can back home. After interviewing several, Becker finally settled on Carmelo, a quixotic figure who washes cars by day and sings songs at night, accompanied by his guitar and his friend Arturo. When Becker finally began shooting footage for his film, Carmelo decided to go back home to Mexico. Becker followed him there and over the course of a few years shot an entirely different story: one of a humble man struggling for survival in the face of severe economic adversity.
The immigrant's story is not a new one, but Becker shot his documentary on 16 mm film, giving it a permanence and beauty not found on video. His images are vibrant and colorful, and from the smoky restaurants of San Francisco to the quiet streets of Salvatierra, Mexico we watch Carmelo's story unfold. Though he shot only 12 hours of footage, it was very carefully chosen. From flowers in a Mexican market and a Virgin Mary bobble on the dashboard in a carwash, to slow motion shots of Carmelo and Arturo walking with their guitars, the shots are aesthetically appealing and give a sense of depth and culture.
When he arrives in his hometown of Salvatierra, we see that his mother has had both legs amputated due to diabetes and is struggling. His daughters are going to school and the money that they had saved for a quinceañera goes for his mothers' surgery. Carmelo immediately sets off to find work, as a singer and also selling flavored ices on the street. He makes some money, but not as much as did in San Francisco. And because he tends to give away his merchandise to children that are just as poor as he once was, his profit margin never tends to be especially high. After a time, he begins talks of returning to San Francisco to work, but he fears that trying to cross over would be too much for someone his age. In fact Becker shows some of that journey and even for a fit hiker it would be a challenge.
Carmelo is a romantic character though his situation hardly is. He still has big dreams for himself and his family but sometimes reality gets the better of him. Throughout it all, music proves to be the constant accompaniment to his life, whether he's trying to earn a few dollars playing in a restaurant or softly strumming the guitar in his home. There's a soulfulness and honesty in his character that makes him so appealing onscreen, along with his sense of humor and penchant for eating.
As in the documentary Maid in America, Carmelo is trying to create a better life for his family but the cost is high—he can't see them everyday and he has a difficult life in San Francisco. Though a sort of surrogate family is created among the single men, they are barely scratching out a living. Yet when they return home, thought they are able to spend time with their families, they are unable to provide for them in the way that they could working in the U.S. It's a catch-22 with no easy answer.
The Los Angeles Film Festival's spotlight on these types of documentaries, in a city whose population is so directly affected by these issues, offers some sort of respite in a post-9/11 climate that has become increasingly tense. As our country further closes itself off from the rest of the world, and as Minutemen vigilantes guard the U.S./Mexican border, frictions are increasing and viable solutions are fewer and far between. Through Romántico, Becker has initiated a dialogue with the public and introduced them to the many reasons of why people decide to come and struggle in the U.S. He also shows why they decide to return home and the painful results each choice produces.
Anji Milanovic
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