NZIFF Review: ‘La Jaula de Oro’

While most road movies involve bonding between the characters and a certain sentimentality, this hard-hitting film takes a different tack. We are given no real introduction to the protagonists, just see them preparing to leave their Guatemalan village.

First up is Sara who cuts off her hair and binds her breasts to pass as a boy. Then Juan, handsome and swaggering, violence seething just beneath the surface. He picks up Samuel, the final member of the trio, in a rubbish dump.

There is no discussion between these three as to where they are going or why. It soon becomes clear that they are running away and that their goal is Los Angeles. But it’s a long journey and leaping aboard a moving train is not as easy as it looks. Even once they manage this feat, the journey is not to be straightforward or easy.

Along the way they pick up Chauk, an Indian kid who speaks a Mayan language none of the others can understand. Juan initially pushes Chauk away, but Sara recognises something in him and keeps drawing him back into the group. Which ends up being a good thing because Chauk is resourceful, smart and loyal.

As they travel across the miles, the foursome contend with corrupt cops and a band of kidnappers before they even reach the border. Once there, the crossing is dangerous, with sharpshooters and helicopters monitoring the border.

But it is not all bleak. Along the journey the kids also encounter gestures of kindness, like villagers tossing fruit to the people sweltering in the hot sun on top of the train’s carriages, and others willing to shelter them from the immigration police.

This is a disquieting and wholly unsentimental film. Each time you begin to feel safe for the characters, the director tosses another unexpected obstacle in their way. But it will certainly give you new respect for those who are tenacious enough to make the crossing, even if the American dream they find on the other side is not as rosy as they may have expected.

I loved this because it’s something I’ve seen before, but as it’s told in such a wholly different way it feels completely fresh and new. The plot twists are unexpected and the relationships between the characters develop in very different ways.

8/10

.