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SANGRE DE MI SANGRE Send This Review to a Friend
Called “Padre Nuestro” when I saw it at the 2007 New Directors/New Films series, the newly released “Sangre de Mi Sangre” winds up being too melodramatic, but nevertheless it is often an engrossing drama pegged to the world of immigrants who get exploited as they aim to find their way. Written and directed by Christopher Zalla, the film follows two Mexicans, Juan and Pedro, after they meet as occupants of a trailer carrying illegal immigrants to New York.
Pedro, played by Jorge Adrian Espindola, intends to search for his father, who abandoned him and his mother years ago, and thinks his father now is a restaurant owner. En route he becomes friendly with Juan (Armando Hernandez), who steals Pedro’s belongings and the letter he has been carrying from his mother. Once in New York Juan poses as Pedro and sets out to find Pedro’s father. Meanwhile, Juan, broke and bereft of identity proof, is also searching.
When Juan and Pedro’s father Diego (Jesus Ochoa) connect, it takes some convincing for Diego to accept that Juan is his son. Diego is no restaurant owner. He is a restaurant dishwasher who lives in crummy conditions, but has been saving money under the floorboards. When he finally does accept that Juan is his son, he warms to the lad, who in turn has plans to steal Diego’s money.
During his quest Pedro meets Magda (Paola Mendoza), a surly, drug-addicted young woman who rejects him at first, but for promised payment agrees to help Pedro find his dad. Each of the actors is good, but there is much that’s not believable in the story, which turns out to be tragic. However, it succeeds in focusing on the downside of how those who come to the United States illegally must struggle in their new world. An IFC Films release.
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