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 Entertainment | February 2005 
Our Picks for the Best Latinos In Film
 Sandra Márquez - Hispanic Magazine
2004 was a notable year for Hispanic performers.
 It’s February, and that means it’s time to watch as many films as you can before the 76th annual Academy Awards ceremony — which airs Feb. 29 on ABC — in order to make educated guesses in the Oscar betting pool at the office, and to feel the drama when the gold-sealed envelopes are ripped open on live television.
So, in the spirit of the Oscars, here’s our pick of the Best in Latino Film from the past year. Don’t be surprised if some of our choices are overlooked by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. By press time, the official nominees had yet to be announced. And if you’ve been watching closely over the years, you probably haven’t seen too many Latinos heading off the red carpet with those little golden statuettes. That’s because only four Oscars have been awarded to Latino actors in nearly eight decades.
Regardless of who ends up on the red carpet, 2004 was a notable year for Latino film. Here are the headlines: Spanish-language films are reaching wider audiences, bicultural is becoming hip in Hollywood, and the very definition of “foreign film” is being redefined.
You could say it was the year of the “crossover” with critically acclaimed films, such as HBO’s theatrically released Maria Full of Grace and Focus Features’ The Motorcycle Diaries, filmed entirely in Spanish while being widely marketed to non-Spanish speakers.
Chon Noriega, a professor of film/television and digital media at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), notes that while the latest roster of Latino films has garnered high praise from critics, that still doesn’t translate into box office smash hits.
“They are still pretty much art-house films, even The Motorcycle Diaries,” says Noriega, who is also director of UCLA’s Chicano Research Center. “But still, films like these are moving in the direction that Spike Lee took. They get a lot of critical attention and people know the issue they are addressing.”
That means more people are aware of the hazards faced by Colombian drug mules, Che Guevara’s early life and Spanish poet Ramón Sampedro’s 30-year-battle to die with dignity.
With a wider audience for films en español has come a certain cachet for Spanglish. The trend can be seen in last year’s bilingual caper flick, Criminal, starring John C. Reilly and Diego Luna. A remake of the Argentine film Nueve Reinas, Criminal was adapted to the streets of Los Angeles and its dialogue mirrored an easy flow from English to Spanish, reflecting the way so many people navigate between language and cultures today.
More recently, the bilingual trend was evidenced by the Sony Pictures blockbuster titled Spanglish that hit theaters just before Christmas. Written and directed by James Brooks, creator of Terms of Endearment and Broadcast News, Spanglish tells the story of a Mexican maid (played by Spanish actress Paz Vega) who moves in with a dysfunctional, upper class family on L.A.’s west side and teaches them about love and family—despite the language barrier between them.
Spanglish, which cost nearly $100 million to make, suggests Hollywood is ready to invest in a high-profile Latino-themed film. Even if it is, “probably sentimental and highly problematic,” says Noriega, the film could still raise awareness of Latinos by its sheer marketing force, with the concept of “bilingual is in” being splashed on billboards nationwide.
“These films are inevitably autobiographical and ultimately reveal that directors know nothing more about Latins than their maids,” says Noriega, referring to a New York Times interview where Brooks revealed that the inspiration for the story came from a Guatemalan maid who once worked in his household. “It’s a good sign, but it also shows that we have a long way to go.”
Not surprisingly, in this age of globalization, the very notion of what makes a film “foreign” is in flux. That economic reality kept two Latino-themed films from Oscar consideration in the “Best Foreign Language” category this year.
Maria Full of Grace wasn’t deemed Colombian enough by the Academy—despite its all-Colombian cast—because it was written and directed by American Joshua Marston and financed by HBO.
The Motorcycle Diaries faced a different dilemma. There was such a confluence of talent on the project—Brazilian director Walter Salles, Puerto Rican screenwriter José Rivera, Mexican and Argentine co-stars Gael García Bernal and Rodrigo de la Serna, and American executive producer Robert Redford—that the Academy couldn’t figure out which country could claim the film.
Nicole Guillemet, director of the Miami International Film Festival, says joint productions between American, European and Latin American studios are creating films that otherwise might not be made.
“It’s something that has been happening in the last few years,” Guillemet says. “There is more co-production in Latin America. That alone has helped because there really is no money in many of these countries to make films.”
Festivals like her own, which takes place Feb. 4–13, provide an important platform for Latino-themed films, notes Guillemet. Of the 118 films to be screened in Miami, more than 40 percent are in the Ibero-American category. If an emerging film wins an award or gleans positive reviews from critics, distribution deals often follow.
The French-born Guillemet says the leading Latino contenders for Oscar consideration—Maria Full of Grace, Mar Adentro and The Motorcycle Diaries—bode well for what is still to come.
“These three films are so different. It’s totally an indication of the richness of the stories of those countries,” she says. “I wouldn’t say I have a favorite one. I saw the three films and each one in its own way is brilliant.”
And our nominees are…
Best Film: Maria Full of Grace, Mar Adentro, The Motorcycle Diaries and Bad Education.
Best Actress: Catalina Sandino Moreno for her spare and nuanced performance as a Colombian drug mule in Maria Full of Grace.
Best Actor: Javier Bardem for his emotionally complex portrayal of Spanish poet Ramón Sampedro in Mar Adentro; Gael García Bernal for his dramatic leads in The Motorcycle Diaries and Bad Education; Diego Luna for the edgy portrayal of urban anti-heroes in Criminal and Nicotina.
Best Supporting Actress: Yenny Paola Vega (Maria Full of Grace), Belén Rueda (Mar Adentro), and Paz Vega (Spanglish).
Best Supporting Actor: Rodrigo de la Serna (The Motorcycle Diaries), Orlando Tobón (as himself in Maria Full of Grace), Alfredo Molina (Spider-Man 2), and Luis Guzmán (Lemony Snicket’s: A Series of Unfortunate Events).
Best screenplay: Pedro Almodóvar for his twists and turns in Bad Education. Almodóvar, a Spaniard, has two Oscars under his belt: Best Foreign Film for All About My Mother and Best Original Screenplay for Talk to Her.
Best cinematography: Motorcycle Diaries for its vivid and poetic depiction of the South American landscape.
Best director: Pedro Almodóvar (Bad Education), Alejandro Amenábar (Mar Adentro), Alfonso Cuarón (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), and Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries.) |
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