Sin nombre (film)

Sin Nombre
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Cary Joji Fukunaga
Written by	Cary Joji Fukunaga
Produced by	Amy Kaufman
Starring	Edgar Flores Kristyan Ferrer Paulina Gaitán
Cinematography	Adriano Goldman
Edited by	Luis Carballar Craig McKay
Music by	Marcelo Zarvos
Production companies	Primary Productions Canana Films Creando Films
Distributed by	Focus Features
Release dates	January 18, 2009 (2009-01-18) (Sundance) March 20, 2009 (2009-03-20) (United States) May 15, 2009 (2009-05-15) (Mexico)
Running time	96 minutes
Countries	Mexico United States
Language	Spanish
Box office	$7 million

Sin Nombre (English: "Nameless") is a 2009 Mexican-American adventure thriller film written and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, about a Honduran girl trying to immigrate to the United States, and a boy caught up in the violence of gang life.

Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal were executive producers on the Spanish-language film. Sin Nombre won awards for directing and cinematography at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

Plot

Willy, nicknamed El Casper, is a member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang and lives in Tapachula, a Mexican town near the border with Guatemala. He introduces a young boy into his gang, and the boy is given the nickname Smiley after a violent initiation. Casper later helps Smiley to complete this initiation by helping him execute a rival gang-member. Casper is romantically involved with a girl, Martha Marlen. Fearing for the girl's safety, he keeps the relationship a secret from his gang, but his double life causes his gang to doubt his loyalty. When Martha follows Casper to a gathering of his gang, the gang leader, Lil Mago, escorts her out, despite Casper's misgivings. Mago attempts to rape Martha and accidentally kills her. Later, he blithely tells Casper that he will find another.

Shortly afterward, Mago brings Casper and Smiley to La Bombilla, a location along the train tracks where potential illegal immigrants stow away on passing trains on their way to the United States. Among the immigrants is a Honduran family introduced earlier consisting of the teenage girl Sayra, her father, and her uncle, who are on their way to relatives in New Jersey. Lil Mago, Casper, and Smiley rob the passengers for any money they have until Lil Mago spots Sayra and attempts to rape her. Casper intervenes, killing Mago and then sending Smiley off.

Smiley goes back to the gang and reports about Mago's death. The new gang leader, El Sol, accuses Smiley of collusion, to which Smiley timidly protests and begs to be sent to kill Casper to prove his loyalty. El Sol agrees and Smiley travels north to track down Casper. On the train, the still shocked Casper is avoided by other passengers. When some try to throw him off the train, Sayra warns Casper and keeps on approaching him, despite her father's warnings. Casper's knowledge from previously smuggling gang members and avoiding the police proves useful, as he eludes his pursuers. He is finally accepted by Sayra's family but decides to leave the train while the others are sleeping. Unbeknownst to Casper, Sayra follows him off the train. Meanwhile, her father and uncle decide to continue the journey.

Traveling north on a car transport organized by a friend of Casper, Casper and Sayra barely escape a trap laid for them and enter an immigrant shelter, where Sayra sees a familiar face. She is informed that her father has died and her uncle has been caught. In disbelief, she rushes off to cry at the chapel, where Casper comforts her. They reach a river that constitutes the border to the United States. A coyote agrees to take them across one by one. Casper pays the man with his camera containing the cherished pictures of his murdered girlfriend and insists that Sayra go first. When she is halfway across, the gang appears and begins to chase Casper. Casper flees the pursuing gang but runs into Smiley, who shoots him once, then slowly two more times, the last of which in the head. This allows time for the others to catch up. They then all proceed to empty their magazines into Casper in an execution style killing, while Sayra struggles to hold on to the raft and screams in horror.

The closing scenes show Sayra phoning her father's new family from outside an American mall, her uncle setting off on another attempt to cross the border, and Smiley getting his lip tattooed as a sign of his loyalty to the gang.

Cast

• Edgar Flores as Willy ("El Casper")
• Kristyan Ferrer as Benito ("El Smiley")
• Paulina Gaitán as Sayra
• Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Lil Mago
• Diana García as Martha Marlene
• Héctor Jiménez as Wounded Man / Leche
• Gerardo Taracena as Horacio
• Luis Fernando Peña as El Sol

Production

The film was mostly shot in Mexico City. Locations were found there resembling as closely as possible Tegucigalpa and the train station in Tapachula.

The film was also shot in Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico. Several of the extras used in the film were actual migrants. Fukunaga said of working with them, "I didn't have to tell them anything — they know how to sit on top of a train."

Reception

The film currently holds an 88% "fresh" rating on the review website Rotten Tomatoes; the consensus states: "Part harrowing immigration tale, part gangster story, this debut by writer/director Cary Fukunaga is sensitive, insightful and deeply authentic." On Metacritic, the film has a 77/100 rating, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Awards

Awards
Award	Category	Recipient(s)	Outcome
Austin Film Critics Association Awards	Best Foreign Language Film		Won
British Independent Film Awards 2009	Best Foreign Film		Nominated
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards	Best Foreign Language Film		Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
	Best Foreign Language Film		Nominated
	Most Promising Filmmaker	Cary Joji Fukunaga	Nominated
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards	Best Foreign Language Film		Won
Deauville American Film Festival	Jury Prize (tied)		Won
EDA [Alliance of Women Film Journalists] Award	Best Non-English-Language Film		Nominated
2009 Edinburgh International Film Festival	Skillset New Directors Award	Cary Joji Fukunaga	Won
Indiana Film Journalists Association Award	Best Foreign Language Film		Won
Spirit Awards
	Best Feature		Nominated
	Best Director	Cary Joji Fukunaga	Nominated
	Best Cinematography	Adriano Goldman	Nominated
2009 Sundance Film Festival Awards (U.S. Dramatic Competition)
	Directing Award	Cary Joji Fukunaga	Won
	Excellence in Cinematography	Adriano Goldman	Won
2009 Stockholm International Film Festival Awards
	Best First Feature		Won
	Best Actor	Edgar Flores	Won
	FIPRESCI International Film Critics Prize for Best Film		Won
St. Louis Film Critics Awards	Best Foreign Language Film		Nominated

See also

• Children's immigration crisis

External links

• Sin Nombre at IMDb
• Sin Nombre at AllMovie
• Sin Nombre at Box Office Mojo
• Sin Nombre at Rotten Tomatoes
• Sin Nombre at Metacritic
• Sin Nombre Sundance Festival page