Bordertown (2007 film)
| Bordertown | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical Poster | |
| Directed by | Gregory Nava |
| Written by | Gregory Nava |
| Produced by | Executive Producer: David Bergstein Cary Epstein Tracee Stanley-Newell Barbara Martinez-Jitner Producers: Gregory Nava Jennifer Lopez Simon Fields and others. |
| Starring | Jennifer Lopez Antonio Banderas |
| Cinematography | Reynaldo Villalobos |
| Edited by | Padraic McKinley |
| Music by | Graeme Revell |
| Distributed by | THINKFilm Capitol Films Production Company: Mobius Entertainment |
Release dates | February 15, 2007 (Berlin) |
Running time | 100 minutes |
| Countries | United States England |
| Languages | English Spanish |
| Budget | $21,000,000 estimated.[1] |
Bordertown is an American and British motion picture released in 2007, written and directed by Oscar nominated Gregory Nava and executive produced by David Bergstein, Cary Epstein, Barbara Martinez-Jitner, and Tracee Stanley-Newell.[2]
The movie stars Jennifer Lopez (also credited as producer), Antonio Banderas, Martin Sheen, and others.
The film tells the true story of the numerous women murdered in Ciudad Juárez and the inquisitive American reporter sent in by her American newspaper.
Plot
Template:Spoilers The opening titles explain that American corporations are using the North American Free Trade Agreement by opening large maquiladoras right across the United States border. The maquiladora's hire mostly Mexican women to work long hours for little money in order to produce mass quantity products.
Lauren Fredericks (Jennifer Lopez), an impassioned American news reporter for the "Chicago Sentinel" wants to be assigned to the Iraq front-lines to cover the war. Instead, her editor George Morgan (Martin Sheen) assigns her to investigate a series of slayings involving young maquiladora factory women in a Mexican bordertown. Fredericks heads to Ciudad Juárez, Mexico to investigate, hoping that if she does well she'll be assigned to Iraq by Morgan. In Juárez, she meets up with Diaz (Antonio Banderas), her ex-boyfriend, who is the editor for the local newspaper "El Sol de Juárez." In Juarez she meets Eva (Maya Zapata), the latest victim. Fredericks learns Eva was on a bus on the way back to Oaxaca when she was assaulted and raped by the bus driver and another man, who then tried to strangle her. The two men, believing her dead, stopped. With the little energy she had left, Eva escaped.
Exhibition
The picture was first presented at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 15, 2007 in competition. It was nominated for a Golden Bear.[3]
Producers told the Los Angeles Times on February 14, 2007, that the film does not yet have a release date in the United States.[4] However, IMDb states that a limited release is scheduled for June 2007.[5]
Background
The motion picture is loosely based on a series of unsolved murders in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, a maquiladora border town near El Paso, Texas. Estimates of the murders conflict, yet, conservatively speaking over four hundred women, maybe many more, have been kidnapped, tortured and murdered since 1993 in and around Ciudad Juárez.[6]
When Gregory Nava first heard about the muders in Ciudad Juárez he wanted to do something. He said that his vision became to tell the stories through "an exciting thriller-drama."[7]
Nava approached Jennifer Lopez to do the film in 1998 and she was receptive. Lopez said, "Since first hearing of these atrocities in 1998, when Gregory Nava came to me with this project, I desperately wanted to tell this story. I began working to ensure we made this film in order to bring the attention of the world to [the] tragedy and to pressure the Mexican government to bring to justice those responsible for these horrible crimes."[8]
Screenplay
The inspiration for the story, according to Nava, was the work of Guatemalan writer Miguel Angel Asturias, the magic realism of novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and the social dramas of England's Charles Dickens. He also said the screenplay was a return to an El Norte type of screenplay (Oscar nominated). In El Norte he created a screenplay from many of the interviews he conducted. He did the same in Bordertown.[9]
Financing
Mobius Entertainment, the production company, borrowed money to complete the project from the New Mexico State Investment Council (NMSI) but was late in paying back the loan in March 2006.[10]
A second $12.65MM loan could be called in by NMSI before its November 2008 due date because of the late payments. The second loan calls for zero interest because the state of New Mexico will take ten percent of any profits the film might make. Film producers said the delay of payment was due to filming taking longer than expected.
At one point the film was in development with both New Line Cinema and MGM.[11]
Production
Director Gregory Nava and executive producer Barbara Martinez-Jitner believed that the film would bring strong reactions. Nava has said the production received threats against himself and the cast. Also, there was stolen equipment and intimidation of film crew members when they filmed in Mexico.
According to the Martinez-Jitner when they first filmed in Ciudad Juárez, the police began threatening locals who were helping the production and to began stalk the crew. Also, a camera truck was vandalized and $100,000 worth of film equipment was stolen.
Bordertown places the blame for the murders to the Mexican government, the United States, and to the maquiladora assembly plants that were accelerated by the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Nava said, "[When] there are very powerful forces involved, you're going to be attacked. I expect the Mexican government to get very upset about it."[12]
Filming locations
Filming locations include: Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States; Nogales, Sonora, and Ciudad Juárez, all in Mexico.
Critical reception
Bordertown was selected for competition at the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival.[13]
The initial critical reception at the film festival was harsh. Kirk Honeycutt, writing for the Hollywood Reporter, did not like the film: "It wants to be a thriller, a piece of investigative journalism, a political soapbox and a vehicle for Jennifer Lopez. It serves none of these masters well." Honeycutt also said the screenplay is full of plot holes and outlines some of them in his review of the film.[14]
According to media reports, the audience reacted with a mixture of "boos and muted applause" when the film finished screening.[15]
Variety magazine film critic Leslie Felperin has a problem with some of the arguments made in the film, namely: that the NAFTA agreement and the exploitation of Mexican labor directly led to the killing of many women in Ciudad Juárez. Felperin said, "Possible co-factors or causes of the real crime spree, such as rife drug-related criminality, domestic violence largely ignored by the authorities, and the possibility that at least some of the culprits may be U.S. citizens crossing the border to kill for kicks, are not explored here." As for the film, Felperin calls the movie "only fair-to-poor."[16]
Awards
Wins
At the Berlin International Film Festival Jennifer Lopez received the "Artists for Amnesty," award presented by Amnesty International. She won the award for her role as producer and star of a film "examining the ongoing murders of hundreds of women in a Mexican border town."[17]
Nominations
- Berlin International Film Festival: Golden Berlin Bear; Gregory Nava; 2007.
Cast and ratings
Template:Infobox movie certificates
- Jennifer Lopez as Lauren Fredericks
- Antonio Banderas as Alfonso Diaz
- Maya Zapata as Eva Jimenez
- Irineo Alvarez as Domingo Zapata
- Randall Batinkoff as Frank Kozerski
- Sônia Braga as Teresa Casillas
- Juan Diego Botto as Marco Antonio Salamanca
- Rene Rivera as Aris Rodriguez
- Zaide Silvia Gutierrez as Lourdes Jimenez
- Martin Sheen as George Morgan
- Juanes as himself
Life imitates art
Throughout the years various people have been arrested for the murders in Ciudad Juárez. The latest arrested suspect is Edgar Alvarez Cruz. Cruz was charged on September 8, 2006, of one murder but is suspected of several others by the authorities. Cruz's family say he has a solid alibi.[18]
Footnotes
- ^ Amedeo, Michael. The Albuquerque Tribune, October 19, 2006.
- ^ Bordertown at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ The West Australian. From: Associated Press, "Amnesty to honour J-Lo for Bordertown," February 3, 2007.
- ^ Johnson, Reed. The Los Angeles Times, "Mexico's murdered women find a voice in 'Bordertown': A new film casts blame on both sides of the border for the scandal that is Ciudad Juárez," February 14, 2007.
- ^ IMDb, release date section, ibid.
- ^ Summers, Chris. BBC News, "Hollywood Tackles Mexican Mystery," September 10, 2006.
- ^ Gerson, Daniela. Spiegel International, from Berlinale, February 15, 2007.
- ^ Mainichi Daily News. "Lopez to receive award from human rights group for Bordertown," entertainment article, February 3, 2007.
- ^ Gerson, Daniela. Ibid.
- ^ Amedeo, Michael. Ibid.
- ^ Showbizdata film data base.
- ^ Johnson, Reed. Ibid.
- ^ European-films web site.
- ^ Honeycutt, Kirk. The Hollywood Reporter, (via Reuters), "Jennifer Lopez lost in ludicrous Bordertown, February 15, 2007.
- ^ Spiegel Online. "'Bordertown' Booed at Berlinale," February 16, 2007.
- ^ Felperin, Leslie. Variety, film review from Berlinale, February 15, 2007.
- ^ Mainichi Daily News, ibid.
- ^ Summers, Chris. Ibid.
References
- Women of Juárez web site.
External links
- Bordertown script review.
- Bordertown screening-fan review; contains spoilers.