18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Surely One of the Finest Films of the Year, January 14, 2007
'Quinceañera' is a little miracle of a film. Written and directed by the sensitive team of Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland ('The Fluffer', 'Grief') this independent film garnered many awards at the Sundance Festival and rightly so. For the first time a film about the Latino community in Los Angeles is presented without the usual onerous stereotypes but instead with all the idiosyncrasies of a culture within a culture that respects place, time, extended family, the individual choices that demand courage, and the wondrously warm festivities and traditions that make this part of Los Angeles milieu so unique and special.
Made on a budget of around $250,000. with the money being raised by producers who solely believed in an idea (no script was ready at the time of solicitation of support) presented Glatzer and Westmoreland who lived in the Echo Park area of downtown LA and had witnessed the traditional coming of age at 15 with the special presentation to society of girls becoming women called Quinceañera: they felt a story was there. Gathering a cast of both known and unknown actors who felt as committed to the concept as the production team, Glatzer and Westmoreland wrote the script as the film progressed, using extemporaneous lines from the cast on set as part of the atmosphere. The end product is a loving, unpretentious, realistic story rendered without the slightest trace of treacle or overindulgence in histrionics or false sentimentality.
Magdalena (a strong Emily Rios) is 14, awaiting her quinceañera, knowing that her family cannot afford the extravagance of the event in which she has just been a participant. Her father is a preacher and will not consider spending money for a new dress or a limo for her party and while her mother supports Magdalena's wants, she succumbs to the realities of the finances of the family. Magdalena has a young boyfriend Herman (J.R. Cruz) and though they are careful with intimacy, Magdalena becomes pregnant without penetration. When her family discovers her pregnancy, no one will believe she is still in fact a virgin and she is castigated by her father (Jesus Castanos) and thrown from her home. Herman loves her but obeys his mother's wishes that he complete school and he leaves Echo Park, deserting Magdalena. Magdalena finds solace with her great granduncle Tio Tomas Alvarez (a brilliant Chalo González) who lives in back of a property in a home filled with love, memories, kindness, and tradition. He has also taken in the young pseudo-gansta Carlos (an impressively strong and hunky Jesse Garcia) who discovers he is gay when he comes out with the gay couple (David Ross and Jason L. Wood) who own the property in front of Tio's little place.
Gradually Magdalena and Carlos bond under the influence of their Tio Tomas, learning the important life lessons of family and self respect, healing from the injuries that are similar to the disappointments of Tio Tomas' past. It is the manner in which these three become a strong extended family, mutually supportive, that is the strength of the story, and when Tio Tomas suffers yet another disappointment in his life, he at age 81 dies quietly, leaving Magdalena and Carlos the richer for their time with him.
The supporting cast, drawn from professional actors, local theater and from the people of Echo Park, is uniformly strong and presents an unfettered sense of realism to the film. There are many exemplary moments: Magdalena and her father argue over her pregnancy in a bilingual fashion - the father screams in Spanish and Magdalena screams back in English, a finely integrated demonstration of the crossing of language and culture so well presented in the film; Carlos' eulogy at Tio Tomas' funeral is one of the more powerful monologues on film and is superbly delivered by the very talented Jesse Garcia; finally a look at the gay Spanish population so taboo in other films, again due to the fine acting of Garcia with Ross and Wood; and the preparations and executions of the actual quinceañeras are true to life. This is a film of love on the part of everyone involved and it is powerful in its simple realism. Highly recommended for everyone. Grady Harp, January 07
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It could open your eyes and heart., March 8, 2007
The movie "Quinceanera" has all the qualities that make an Independant film an exceptional experience. The story gives the Mexican culture of
celebrating a girls coming of age on her 15th birthday an unexpected emotional and entertaining twist that will provoke feelings of joy,sadness and understanding. As a bonous the DVD gives you an interesting look into the making of the movie and how it came together.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A WARM FAMILY HUG, February 26, 2007
Upon viewing Quinceañera, I can see why this small, made in three weeks, low budgeted ($250,000) film has garnered so many rave reviews. It is a truly heart warming film that has a marvelous and realistic bi-lingual script (Spanish and English with subtitles for ths parts in Spanish) it is wonderfully directed and MOST OF ALL, it has a GREAT bunch of actors giving GREAT performances. More importantly, for me, the movie gave me a cozy and warm feeling like one gets when one gets a comforting hug from a well thought of relative.
Emily Rios, as Magdalena is so very good! She at one moment is a very brash and sassy 15 year old Los Angeles teen eagerly awaiting the celebration--the Quinceañera. The next minute she is strong and resilient when faced with some nasty realities that life can dish out to us all. I fully expect Emily Rios to go on to be one of this country's greatest actresses. She is really that good. I adored Jesse Garcia, as her cousin Carlos--on the outside a heavily tattooed, willing to use his fists, pot-smoking thug but possessing a big heart that is capable of deep love for his elderly Uncle Tomas, capable of falling deeply in love and also capable of showing fierce family loyalties and willing to take on extreme responsibilities for his cousin after they all end up living under "one roof". I too expect great things in the acting department from Jesse. Chalo González, as Uncle Tomas is also great as the person that loves his family members no matter what they are doing or have done. In fact, everyone that appears in this film gives an outstanding performance.
I must add that the photography is great and the sound tract is fabulous ranging from Verdi's Aida to "Hip Hop" with loads of wonderful "Salsa" thrown in.
If you want to get a warm feeling from a film, buy this movie.
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