Friday, April 16, 2010
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Friday, April 16, 2010
MOVIE REVIEW
La Mission
Machismo vs. Homophobia in
San Francisco's Mission
Benjamin Bratt stars as Che in Peter Bratt's "La Mission", which opened today in
San Francisco.
5 Stick Films
By
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
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Friday, April 16, 2010
Layered and compelling, Peter Bratt's "La Mission" asks at what price blood
becomes thinner than water. Set in the present day in San Francisco's
Mission District, "La Mission" is a rich, moody drama about fathers, sons and
secrets. Mr. Bratt directs his younger brother Benjamin, who stars as Che.
The character is based on a real-life person. "La Mission", which was
produced by Benjamin Bratt and Peter Bratt, opened today at the Sunshine Cinemas
Kabuki in San Francisco. The film also opened in Berkeley at the Landmark
Shattuck Cinemas.
Che is a San Francisco Muni bus driver during the day. At night he has
another driving duty: driving his Lowrider car (pictured above), an iconic
fixture of 1930s Latin American male culture, embodying manhood. A phallic
procession of these sleek, colorful and vibrant vehicles crawls through the
Mission neighborhood at night, and Che's son Jes (Jeremy Ray Valdez) peers
through the window to witness it. The image is reflected, and it
symbolizes a precursor moment in the film.
Early on we learn that Jes, lo and behold, is gay. When Che finds out,
hell explodes on earth.
As written and directed by Peter Bratt, "La Mission" is far from a neat and tidy
film, which is good. Just when you think it's about one thing, it is about
something entirely different, which is one of its many strengths. "La
Mission" is a story of love, hate, anger and tenderness. An especially
important figure in the film is Che's neighbor Lena (Erika Alexander), who has
her own past to endure. The work of Miss Alexander is especially good
here. She gives an appeal, beauty and profundity to Lena that raises the
film's conscience and stature. Mr. Valdez shows vulnerability and a lot of
heart as Jes, who is in some ways is as indomitable as his father.
Benjamin Bratt, fearsome, charismatic and pointed here, simmers with a potent
rage, and his Che becomes volcanic. We don't necessarily know what
generates the hate and rage within him but the portrayal of Che, a friend of the
director's, is a sharply-drawn and honest one. We know homophobia is a key
however, for fear, perhaps even more than gay people themselves, appears to
threaten Che's very manhood. The film doesn't probe too much farther into
Che's intimate struggles and thus doesn't afford an opportunity to inform the
audience about his true state of being, one way or the other, which leaves us
only to wonder. Another film may well have lectured its audience into an
understanding of Che, where "La Mission" wisely avoids it.
Thankfully "La Mission" avoids throwing platitudes at its gay characters, though
one quotes a refrain reflecting an all-too real truth: that those who rail the
loudest against gay people tend to be the very people who are gay themselves,
and in deep denial. Interestingly, Che seems strangely isolated even from
the camaraderie provided by his fellow buddies, an entertaining cadre of
middle-aged men who rejoice in telling tales out of school about women and
relationships.
"La Mission" is imbued with aspects of Latin identity, worn proudly on its
sleeve, while capturing soul music and R&B sounds of the 1950s and 1960s, giving
the film a warm nostalgia that underlines and deepens the nuances and tensions
between generations. When a hooded teenage boy walks into Che's garage
blaring hip-hop on his portable boom-box he receives his marching orders from
Che. Che doesn't seem to like anyone or anything. Encased in the
bold, cold steel of a heralded and now worldwide Lowrider car culture, he has
forgotten how to feel and love.
With: Jesse Borrego, Talisa Soto Bratt, Kevin Michael Richardson, Patrick D.
Shining-Elk, Rene A. Quinonez, Ruben Gonzalez, Max Rosenak.
"La Mission" is rated R by the Motion Picture Association Of America for
language, some violence and sexual content. The film's running time is one hour and
57 minutes.
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Read more movie reviews and stories from Omar
here.
Read Omar's "Far-Flung Correspondent" reports for America's pre-eminent Film
Critic Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times -
here
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