CriticSociety- film reviews

Review

A Day Without a Mexican

Director

Sergio Arau

Year

2004

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

It is well-known that the Latino population in some parts of the United States is growing so fast that it is almost becoming a majority instead of a minority. Still most Americans, especially in certain states, don’t fully recognize the importance of these people and the dependence they have on them. There’s a racist vibe in the air, that’s undeniable, and here’s one movie that explores that aspect of the American culture in a most original way.

One sunny L.A morning the city wakes up with one peculiarity: every Latino in the city (except one) has disappeared. Suddenly it’s chaos all over California. Only one Mexican-descendant woman (Yareli Arizmendi) is left behind. Some hail her as a hero and some wish she disappeared as well. But she serves as a link to find the reason behind this happening, as other people in the city struggle to keep going despite the incident.

A Day Without a Mexican could be better described as a documentary with a plot. I guess director Sergio Arau couldn’t just make a documentary because people would have not been as interested (although documentaries are certainly in vogue nowadays). So he’s forced to insert a plot in the midst of it all which, if you ask me, simply does not work and borders on the ridiculous. I could’ve done without all the reporter-left-behind stuff as well as other subplots involving a disappeared musician (Eduardo Palomo) and the aftermath of his family, or the senator’s disappeared maid (Elpidia Carrillo).

But when the movie works, it simply soars. Arau finds the perfect seriocomic tone to deliver an in-your-face message. Sure, the movie is obvious, predictable and preachy, but I think it was the right way to go for a movie like this. Since it is mostly a documentary, the director had to have a point of view, and it comes across loud and clear.

The better moments belong to sketched sequences in which we are shown what would happen if Mexicans really disappeared. California’s economy depends on the harvest, most of which is labored by Mexicans. But you also have to add the thousands of people who work as clerks, waiters, guards, janitors, etc. And yes, a significant portion of the art world would also be damaged. Even Salma Hayek disappears! Arau sometimes freezes the image to show written messages filled with shocking facts. And there are surely many hilarious bits involving the disappearances, one of which involves a jumping car!

At the core, the main protagonist is the director. And you could say every living Latino is his accomplice. It is a truly interesting movie with brains and ideas to make you think for weeks. I’m glad it was made.

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