THE STORY – Using new interviews and home movies his family sent over the border, a filmmaker explores his parents journey to the U.S. from Mexico, revealing a personal mosaic of one family’s struggle to reconcile two cultures between two generations.
THE CAST – N/A
THE TEAM – Eddie Sánchez (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 98 Minutes
Memory will always be a fickle aspect of life. As much as we want it to be a perfect delivery system to recall specific events, it is anything but that. It is elastic and malleable, but as we age, it becomes brittle and opaque. For these reasons, documenting the important parts of life becomes essential. The act becomes a way to capture these significant moments, and watching them play out triggers all those feelings as if we were right back in that same spot. Experiencing these sensations, however, is not done so in a vacuum. The years that pass bring about entirely new contexts, evolving the emotions associated with these points in time into something far more complex than initially stated. At first glance, “Mexicanamerican” is a simple collection of events that transpired within a single family, telling the story of how their dynamics changed over time. What it ultimately reveals is a shifting lens of identity, unearthing a deeper emotional catharsis that is intriguing to witness unfold.
The overarching tale here is that of Lalo and Beby Sanchez. In the 1990s, they set out a path for themselves that many have since followed. The couple, with little means in their rural Mexican town, decided to relocate to the United States in an effort to provide a better life for their growing family. At first, the dream seems to be accomplished. They are working to become productive members of this new society and are encouraging their three boys to succeed in this new environment. However, strife has been plaguing this unit throughout. Pressures mount to assimilate into the country, which is generally manifested in their three sons. A distance grows between the culture of the parents, rooted in Catholicism and the Spanish language, and the children’s effort to craft their own identity in the new landscape in which they are raised. Decades later, the eldest son, Eddie, has collected a large collection of VHS recordings of this family from when he and his siblings were young. The interrogation of this footage reveals both the uplifting moments and the tumultuous conflicts that arose, leading to the hopeful realization of what truly defined these relationships and strengthened them in the present day.
There’s a warm nostalgia that’s wrapped up in this showcase from Eddie Sánchez, the film’s director. The archival footage, captured through a hazy camcorder, is interspersed with vintage commercials from the period, accurately evoking the feeling of a home movie recorded over another live television taping. It brings an artistic sensibility to what could otherwise be seen as a flat presentation. What could end up being an isolating experience, watching important events in the lives of strangers, instead becomes an engrossing commentary of a crisis that brews just beneath the surface. The cracks that form are not the ones that drive immediate wedges but instead illuminate the complicated journey these individuals are enduring. The parents lament their children receding from the Mexican culture they hold so close, but it is not merely a simple case of outright rejection. There is resistance from the parental side, such as when the middle child expresses interests that fall outside the traditional values this family has already established. Sánchez demonstrates that these fissures have a nuance to their analysis. The expectation of raising children in this new landscape would turn out different in practice. A parent’s pride to see their children succeed clashes with the desire to remain constant in beliefs and outlooks. Extended relatives remark that Eddie’s flourishing is a light in their own darkness, unaware of the murkier waters he treads into. It’s a fascinating exploration that demonstrates the levels of complexity that exist within the immigrant narrative.
Still, there is a reservedness to some of the storytelling that limits the more powerful impact that could be discovered. When Edgar is shown discussing the friction that arises when he displays his own style, dresses less masculine, and questions his religious upbringing, only a brief glimpse of this turmoil is shown. What feels like a profoundly fracturing event is merely woven into the tapestry of the rest of the story and doesn’t land with the necessary gravitas. The youngest sibling, Eben, is a perspective that is entirely missing. He is involved in other aspects of the film’s production, so access does not seem to be the ultimate issue. Still, it’s another layer that desperately wants to be unveiled but isn’t given any illumination. It’s an example of aspects of the commentary that go unfulfilled, and while what is here is compelling enough, there’s clearly more to uncover. The portrait is so sharply drawn when looking back into the past that the present-day reflections often lack the greater context that would give this examination even more detail, making it all the more alluring.
“Mexicanamerican” occupies that space where many stories about specific identities or backgrounds can flourish. It aims to dissect an arena that can be singular, but doing so comes to represent a universal truth. The tale is one that is very much tailored to this one family: their experiences are singular unto themselves. However, their journey delves into hardships many would find relatable. The growing divide between generations that wrestle with the pressure to be happy at the expense of a personal sense of self can be devastating. These tricky waters to navigate, and the film is a captivating time capsule in which to probe these themes, even when one wishes it could plunge to further depths. Still, what is examined is a provocative thesis that rosy memories may not have been the idyllic picture one thought they were. Instead, there’s a more appealing discovery to be made that manages to bring into focus a more riveting dynamic at play.
