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Quinceañera review
:. Director: Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland
:. Starring: Emily Rios, Jesse Garcia
:. Running Time: 1:33
:. Year: 2006
:. Country: USA
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On the eve of her quinceañera, or fifteenth birthday, young Magdalena (Emily Rios) discovers she's pregnant. Though she's never "been" with her boyfriend, a fact she attests to repeatedly, they've been intimate. Magdalena's father (Jesus Castanos), unwilling to accept his daughter's claim, ostracizes her, so she runs away to live with her 83 year-old great-granduncle, Tio Tomas (Chalo Gonzalez), a free-spirited and accepting man who sells champurrado on the sidewalks of Echo Park. Living with him is Carlos (Jesse Garcia), Magdalena's gay cholo cousin and fellow outcast, who soon becomes caught in the sexual web of his great-uncle's new landlords (David W. Ross, Jason L. Wood).
Written and directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, Quinceañera was the audience favorite at this years Sundance Film Festival, and understandably so. Contrasting the culture and traditions of Southern California Mexican-Americans with the youth culture of today—a memorable early scene has teenagers grinding on the dance floor to the bemusement and disgust of surrounding elders—Quinceanera is a tribute to the individuality and strength of social exiles. Magdalena and Carlos are unlikely equals, both forced to survive in a world that doesn't embrace them, while the patriarch of their impromptu, multigenerational family searches for harmony. Religion, once a uniting refuge, is now the blind defense of Magdalena's father; while we the audience see the link between her situation and that of Mary Magdalene—note the similarities in name—her parents don't.
Though Quinceañera relies heavily on the acting talents of its young and untrained stars, including Rios, its most touching scenes revolve around Gonzalez's Tomas. Gonzalez, who began his career in the films of Sam Peckinpah, has appeared in less than ten movies to date; yes his mastery of nuance and tacit emotions, all expressed through his worn face and accent-heavy dialect, are that of a gifted and well-versed performer. While the unrefined acting of his younger costars ranges from brilliant to stilted, Gonzalez is consistent and profound, the foundation of the film and embodiment of its message.
An independent film destined to be one of 2006's best, it's also one of the few this year that promises a fresh perspective on its subjects. The filmmakers, obviously aware of how exhausted the storyline is—a young but mature girl who's wrongly shunned—manage to avoid the usual clichés and expected plot twists; a scene late in the film, which could easily have become banal and incongruous, remains fresh and touching. Glatzer and Westmoreland never condemn their characters, nor portray them as downtrodden heroes; handled with visible care and affection, Magdalena's family is written as being the typical American household, fraught with disagreement, heartbreak, and tragedy. Shot on location, where gentrification has begun to disseminate the wholly Mexican-American community, Quinceañera is a look at how we yearn to be ourselves, to retain the values of our heritage, while still attempting to belong.
Adam Terry Balz
 Movie Reviews: American Films
Reviews 2012 - present
Reviews 1998 - 2012
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