Sin Nombre portrays a fictionalized version of Central
America’s harsh political reality. El Casper (Édgar Flores), a
young romantic and member of the gang La Mara, joins paths with Sayra
(Paulina Gaytan), a strong-minded young woman fleeing to the United
States via freight train. New director and writer Cary Fukunaga
provides no shortage of brutality: grown men beat up a young boy, dogs
eat human flesh and men assault women. The film’s message is a hopeful
one, though—Fukunaga bases his characters off immigrants he met at
train stations, who have managed to find love while enmeshed in poverty
and violence.
This article appears in Nov 5-11, 2009.
