Cindy L. Torres Humanities 1100 Instructor: Kim Anderson October 28,2013 International Film Critique 1.

Title of Film: Under The Same Moon 2. Year of release: July 27, 2007 (festival) March 19, 2008 (US) March 20, 2008 (Mexico) 3. Language of original film: Spanish 4. Director: Patricia Riggen 5. Actors: Adrian Alonso Kate del Castillo Eugenio Derbez America Ferrera Jesse Garcia 6. Give a brief plot summary {150 250 words. DO NOT plagiarize from the web!} La Misma Luna The movie is focused around a young woman Rosario (Kate de Castillo) who has entered the United States illegally in order to achieve the American dream but in doing so, has been away from her son Carlitos (Adrian Alonso) for four years. Her son Carlitos (Adrian Alonso) living in Mexico who is now nine years old waits for his mother Rosario (Kate de Castillo) to call him every Sunday at 10:00 a.m. to a public payphone. Carlitos (Adrian Alonso) lives with his grandmother in a village in Mexico. While working in secret for a woman Carmen (Carmen Salinas) who transports immigrants illegally he is introduced to a women Martha (America Ferrera) and man David (Jesse Garcia) that offer Carmen (Carmen Salinas) that they are able to transports small children illegally but Carmen (Carmen Salinas) laughs in their face and tells them to leave. Carlitos (Adrian Alonso) tells Martha (America Ferrera) and man David (Jesse Garcia) in English that Carmen (Carmen Salinas) is not interested in their services but on the way out Carlitos (Adrian Alonso) accepts a business card from them. His grandmother is extremely ill and soon passes away one morning. Carlitos (Adrian Alonso) decides that he is going to leave Mexico to search for his Mother Rosario (Kate de Castillo) because he knows if he stays his ruthless uncle and aunt would want to custody of him in order to get their hands on the money his mother sends him every month. Carlitos (Adrian Alonso) decides that he will contact the two Coyotes, Martha (America Ferrera) and David (Jesse Garcia) that had given him their business card in order to cross the border into the United States. The young couple Martha (America Ferrera) and David (Jesse Garcia) successfully takes Carlitos (Adrian Alonso) into the United States unnoticed but the van he is hiding in is impounded for unpaid 1

tickets. The next morning when the Coyotes, Martha (America Ferrera) and David (Jesse Garcia) return to retrieve the van, Carlitos (Adrian Alonso) is not longer hiding in it. Carlitos (Adrian Alonso) begins his journey in the United States on his own which results in being a difficult one. Carlitos (Adrian Alonso) almost gets traded into a sex traffickers hands because he owed a man one hundred dollars for giving him a ride back to the yard where the van had been impounded to look for his wad of money but was unable to find. Thankfully a woman that has a safe house saves Carlitos and takes him in with the other illegals that she is harboring. Shortly though while Carlitos (Adrian Alonso) is working with the other illegal immigrants in a green house, the immigration police storms in and arrest everyone their except Carlitos (Adrian Alonso) and a man Enrique (Eugenio Derbez). Carlitos (Adrian Alonso) quickly attaches to him for safety, even though Enrique (Eugenio Derbez) is not the bit interested in helping a child. Carlitos (Adrian Alonso) wins over Enrique (Eugenio Derbez) with his candidness, thusly becoming great friends. Carlitos (Eugenio Derbez) eventually after many dangerous situations finally finds the public phone in Los Angeles, California where there he finds his mother Rosario (Kate de Castillo) standing waiting for him. 7. Analyze the social and philosophical issues the film addresses. Make sure you include the point of view of the movie, the context of the movie, what audience the movie is targeting, and why. The movie begins very intensely, with Rosario (Kate del Castillo) swimming through a river in the dark with other people entering the United States illegally but was quickly startled by the immigration police. She manages to hide under some bushes from the immigration police, however while hiding she witnesses others get arrested. This scene was very emotional for me. I was shocked that people are willing to risk their lives in order to pursue a better life. It is evident that this film was meant to show the American people, that immigrants are also people who want the best for their families. Four years later Rosario (Kate del Castillo) is living in Los Angeles, California working as a cleaning lady for many rich Americans in order to save enough money to pay an immigration lawyer that will help her get Carlitos (Adrian Alonzo) into the United States legally. The director does a wonderful job of making the social differences very obvious to the viewers. As Rosario (Kate del Castillo) is busy at work cleaning a womans home, she overhears the woman arguing with her husband while he is committing adultery. The woman is very wealthy yet has no love in her life, Rosario (Kate del Castillo) is quite poor and one of the lowest social ranks however she is loved immensely by her son Carlitos (Adrian Alonzo). Carlitos (Adrian Alonzo) has been away from his mother Rosario (Kate del Castillo) since he was five years old and lives in a small village in Mexico with his grandmother whose health has been deteriorating. When Carlitos (Adrian Alonzo) grandmother passes away, he decides that living in Mexico is no longer an option since his ruthless uncle and aunt would want to take custody of him in order to get a hold of the money his mother sends him every month. Carlitos (Adrian Alonzo) is a nine year old that easily captivates the audience with his big brown eyes and 2

beautiful mannerisms. He is portrayed as a very strong willed person that sees no obstacle to big to conquer in order to reach his mother. During Carlitos (Adrian Alonzo) journey to reach his mother, the film depicts how difficult it is for the illegal immigrates to live in the United States while in hiding. Carlitos (Adrian Alonzo) and a man Enrique (Eugenio Derbez) also an illegal immigrate himself are brought together by faith. Enrique (Eugenio Derbez) didnt want to help Carlitos (Adrian Alonzo) at first but soon becomes almost like a father figure and protects him throughout his journey. Enrique (Eugenio Derbez) literally ends up being deported back to Mexico because he throws a hot cup of coffee to a police officer that was holding on to Carlitos (Adrian Alonzo) so he could have a chance to escape. This scene showed the audience that everyone one can change for the better because Enrique (Eugenio Derbez) at first was just a selfish man that only cares about himself but in the end is a man full of compassion. 8. What is your response to the message of the film? Why do you respond this way? My initial response after seeing this film was complete optimism because if the American people were to see that immigrants are not coming into the United States for a free handout but rather want to work hard in order to build a better life for their families, immigrants would no longer be consider a threat to society but rather an asset. It was difficult for me to watch this film because I took a lot it very personal, merely based on my religious beliefs that everyone is equal in the eyes of God. I lost count of how many times I cried throughout the film, seeing that the story was based on a true event and knowing that this in one of many out their, which I can only image. I was personally touched by this film because I remember being a small child and overhearing by mother, uncles, and aunts talking about my grandfathers legal status in the United States. They filled out a great deal of paper work and paid a lot of money in order to keep my grandfather from being deported back to Mexico. My grandfather was a very light skinned man with blue eyes who had taught himself to speak English, who had married a woman (grandmother) from the United States. My grandfather was able to stay under the radar of immigration police because of the color of his skin and on the assumption of what an illegal immigrants should look like. As a small child I can only imagine how horrifying that was for my mother to deal with the thought of losing her father. 9. What cultural differences did you notice in the film (philosophical outlook, humor, architecture, customs, clothes, cities, weather, food, music, dancing, lifestyles, etc.)? What did you learn about history, economics or politics? The first cultural different was the size of homes that Rosario (Kate del Castillo) worked in, compared to the size of home that she lives in and shared with a friend. The amount of free time the rich had to just enjoy life, compared to the heavy work schedule the poor uneducated illegal immigrates endure just to make 3

ends meet. I also noticed the things that the wealthy individuals worried about were not of very much importance, for example What shirt will I wear tomorrow? compared to problems of the poor, that are extremely serious. Food was also very different between the rich and the poor people since the rich are able to have anything they want because money is not obstacle to them. Since this is not the case for the poor they must buy food that is affordable and also prepare it for their hectic work schedules. The film demonstrated the distinction of how clothing plays a huge part between the rich and poor. The wealthy want to be the first to have want is in style and do not like to settle for less then the best. The poor, on the other had do not put style on the top of their list as necessities so buying clothes that fits and is affordable is really all that matters. In the film when Rosario (Kate del Castillo) almost married a security guard that she later begins fall in love with, the music was in Spanish not English and all the food was homemade rather than being catered by a fancy restaurant. 10. What techniques did the filmmaker use that were different from what you see in the films you normally watch? The director would put the camera very close to the actors faces, which I feel helped the audience established a more personal connection with the story being told. The other technique that I really enjoyed was when the director made it seem as if Rosario (Kate del Castillo) and her son Carlitos (Adrian Alonzo) were both waking up in the same house but in reality they were both in different countries. Rosario (Kate del Castillo) calls out to her son Carlitos (Adrian Alonzo) to ask him if he is awake after hearing the alarm ring in the early morning hours and then you see him getting up as if he could hear her. I was so convinced that they both lived together because the director combines the two scenes together seamlessly making it seen as if both Rosario (Kate del Castillo) and Carlitos (Adrian Alonzo) were living under the same roof. I also enjoyed when Rosario (Kate del Castillo) describes to her son Carlitos (Adrian Alonzo) over a phone conversation the surroundings around her in detail, which then Carlitos (Adrian Alonzo) is able to imagine himself their next to his mother. I had to watch that scene a couple of times in order to understand that Carlitos (Adrian Alonzo) was still in fact in Mexico. 11. Discuss how what you saw in the film relates to one of the assigned readings or class discussions we have had. Be specific! The one assignment that comes to mind is when we as a class watch the documentary Life In A Day and then we answered different questions about it. The first question that was asked, is what would we had done different if we were the director of the film. I feel that the film Under The Same Moon, as with any other film focuses on what is important to the director and not really worried about pleasing everyone viewing the movie. I also felt that this film is a great example showing that we are all, as people want only the best for our families. As we were able to see in the film Life In A Day of all the different cultures in the world, the 4

main goal of all the people were to keep their families safe from harm and to improve their quality of life by working through many different schedules. 12. Why so you think I assign an international film? I think that most of us are just used to watching movies at a theater and dont really give all the different techniques a second thought because we are just interested in seeing how much the movie can entertain us. Seeing the foreign film has opened up a world of entertainment for me and being aware of all the techniques that a director use to attain our attention, makes watching movies more interesting for me.