Spanish Language Film Series
De La Calle (2001, 90 min, In Spanish with English subtitles)
The award-winning Mexican movie "De la Calle" presents an engrossing, contemporary look at the life of teenagers and young children living on and under the streets of Mexico City. Although not a documentary, the film is able to create a gritty, realistic atmosphere. It manages to evoke a bleak beauty and some sense of hope amid the squalor and depravity.
"De la Calle" follows 15-year-old Rufino and his girlfriend, Xochitl, as they try to escape from the poverty of the urban sprawl of the capital for a new life in the port city of Veracruz. They dream of gazing at the sea. Rufino is a charismatic youth and natural born leader, but he is not the upstanding hero of romantic films of yore: He is a drug runner who fearlessly scams dealers and tries to outwit his connections.
"De la Calle" gets high marks for its lack of pretense and the momentum that propels the narrative from start to finish. Marina Stavenhagen's tight script convincingly depicts the pathetic lives of disenfranchised youth in a living hell with restraint.
Thursday, July 10th
8:00 pm
MonkeyWrench Books
110 E. North Loop
call 512-407-6925 for more info
