A Better Life (2011)

June 24, 2011 (US) • Drama • 98m

Overview

A gardener in East L.A. struggles to keep his son away from gangs and immigration agents while traveling across town to perform landscaping work for the city's wealthy landowners.

Director

Demián Bichir

Keywords

california undocumented immigrant gardener parental sacrifice

Where to watch

Free / Included

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Reviews

Filipe Manuel Neto

⭐ 6/10

July 16, 2022

**A good story, in which the search for a stolen van is linked to the recovery of a father's relationship with his teenage son.**

For many people, the USA is a land of dreams, of opportunities, where they dream to go, in order to free themselves from the harshness of their lives and the lack of conditions in their own countries. The same is true here, with Europe, and very particularly with Germany. Portugal, my country, is also very popular, but it is a country where most people simply pass on their way to the “promised land”.

Personally, I have nothing against these migratory flows. The truth is that we will need this workforce to compensate for the lack of births in our countries and also the lack of workers for simpler services, which we, with our academic degrees, tend not to do. These are people we must welcome, although this should not prevent us from implementing rules, policing borders and demanding that reasonable requirements be met, whether for granting visas or obtaining citizenship.

The film that I am discussing today is precisely the story of an illegal Mexican immigrant who crossed the border and settled in California with his teenage son. He buys a van to establish himself as a home gardener, but ends up seeing it stolen by another immigrant who had tried to help, and it is up to him alone to try to recover it, as he could never go to the authorities without ending up. stuck. The search for the stolen van will, on the other hand, allow a closer relationship between father and son, at a very sensitive moment when the young man seemed quite seduced by Hispanic gangs and by a life associated with crime and the underworld. Clearly inspired by _Bicycle Thieves_, a classic of Italian cinema, the plot is good and touching, it has a dose of emotion that proved to be very positive, and the characters are credible and worthy of our compassion.

The two main roles in this small but well-executed family drama are played by two Hispanic actors, Demián Bichir and José Julián. I don't know any of them, but I think they both managed to get away from the challenges they faced quite well, and it could even be said that Bichir shone, with his serious, slightly emotional and authentic performance. Moreover, the actor even deserved an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

The cinematography, sets and costumes are quite regular, with no major particularities or aspects worth noting. The visual and sound effects used are good, and quite discreet, working quite well. It's a film that doesn't technically stand out, in order to leave us fully involved in the story it tells us.

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Status

Released

Original Language

Budget

$10,000,000

Revenue

$1,800,000

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