Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
The United States is not forcibly and involuntarily inundated with waves of
immigration: it demands it. What’s more, its capitalist domination is directly linked to the
unequal distribution of wealth in developing countries. Popular opinion in the United States
upholds the idea that the country remains separate from the economic subjugation in
developing countries—that its opulence has little to do with the poverty in so many nations.
In his film El Norte, director Gregory Nava challenges the notion of separate and isolated
nations across the border through his use of cyclical imagery, as well as his depiction of U.S.
economic incentive for immigration. The protagonists’ initial hopes and beliefs in the
“American Dream” are cruelly crushed by the reality of limited opportunities of upward
interconnectedness across the border, ultimately confronting and indicting United States
Nava employs cyclical imagery throughout the film. Ranging from a water mill to the
protagonists’ father’s decapitated head against a setting sun, Nava gives careful consideration
and significant visual, filmic attention to circular objects. His attention to physical cycles is
echoed in the cycles of oppression experienced by the protagonists, siblings Rosa and
Enrique Xuncax. Driven from their home in Guatemala, Rosa and Enrique find hope of a
magazines and popular rhetoric—amidst their history of death and violence. Their faith in a
better life can be seen in Rosa’s reverent perusal of a catalogue from the United States and
Enrique’s utterances of United States equality. Enrique tells Rosa, “. . . in the north, we
won’t be treated this way. We’ll make a lot of money. We’ll have everything we want” (El
Their journey to the United States traverses Mexico and pauses in Tijuana. The
siblings witness the desolation and emptiness of the U.S.-Mexico border town, but a coyote
reinforces the idea of an end to poverty in the United States. He tells them, “. . . you won’t
have to sleep on the floor. Not like here, where you’re dying of hunger. It’s the land of
money, where you’ll find beautiful houses, big cars . . .” At this point, Nava creates a
montage of opposites, quickly cutting from shots of dilapidated houses in Tijuana to clean
lawns, mansions and cars in the United States. The severity of the sequence heightens its
message: the United States, or el norte, is markedly different from countries south of the
border. At least, that’s how it is presented. However, the reality of segregation and
socioeconomic inequality in the United States, which Rosa and Enrique will discover with
tragic consequences, resounds much more deeply with Nava’s cyclical imagery than this
abrupt sequence.
After a horrifying crawl across the border through sewage tunnels, Rosa and Enrique
emerge from the tunnel to sweeping, victorious music and beautiful cityscapes. They leave
and purposes, the siblings perform the roles of model immigrants, more than thrilled to learn
English and work diligently and tirelessly. They remain loyal to their faith in U.S.
opportunity, but cracks in this constructed reality are revealed through the physical separation
observation and consternation to her coworker Nacha that she doesn’t see any white people in
their neighborhood, Nacha replies, “. . . Oh, Lord. You don’t think gringos want to live with
Enrique assimilate into U.S. culture and view hard work as necessary for success. They are
not expecting any shortcuts, nor are they under the impression upward mobility comes
without effort. However, their perfect execution of their roles is not met with any real
improvement in their living conditions. Rather, they come to realize the repression from
Guatemala continues in the United States. The final scenes consist of Enrique returning to
manual work, abandoning the possibility of becoming considered anything other than a
source of physical labor. Nava returns to his cyclical montage, cutting from the cement
mixer to men digging, from the drum of their parents’ funeral to a water mill, returning to the
cement mixer, and finally ending on their father’s decapitated head against a setting sun. All
these circular images are connected to a form of oppression: the cement mixer indicates labor
exploitation; the drum results from the politically-motivated murder of their father; the
decapitated head a result of military massacre. Nava does not provide markers of
differentiation among these images, introducing each image with a drum beat and giving each
image the same screen time, perpetuating a connection and continuation of domination.
States and countries south of the border, although it adopts a stance contrary to U.S. popular
opportunity, but rarely is examination given to the downward pull of the U.S. economy.
Instances of this dependence on cheap labor can be seen Enrique’s minimum-wage kitchen
job and Rosa’s housecleaning, but a particularly interesting and exposing scene involves a
Chicago factory owner seeking a bilingual foreman for her company. In this instance, the
film offers an explicit example of commercial, industrial investment in cheap labor. In fact,
the factory owner offers to escort Enrique to Chicago. Not only is she offering economic
incentive, but she also suggests and provides physical transportation—illegal transportation
supplied by a U.S. business. The film overtly and directly addresses the reciprocal
relationship between immigration and the United States economy, contradicting the ideology
social hierarchy and economic incentives. Although the initial dialogue reinforces the United
States ideology of a land of opportunity and equitable wealth, Nava’s constant cyclic imagery
points to a trend of continuation of oppression rather than distinction among nations. This
connection is further enforced with the exposé of U.S. economic reliance on cheap immigrant
labor to guarantee its profit from the capitalist system. Ultimately, El Norte creates a portrait
of social hierarchy that spans and perpetuates across nations, creating an endless pattern of
domination and exploitation. For the characters Rosa and Enrique, there is no escaping this
Works cited
El Norte. Dir. Gregory Nava. Perf. Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez and David Villalpando. Criterion,
1983. DVD.