The film I chose to write about was Mi Familia. Mi Familia is the story of events in the lives of three generations of a Los Angeles Mexican-American family. The theme of this story is that this country has been populated by millions of humans from around the globe. People from Mexico escape religious persecution, economic disaster, or warfare. And too many of these immigrants have been tragically abused by the system that was designed to welcome them and protect them. The time period that this movie takes place was after the Revolution and the Great Depression had just begun.
The great depression was the worst economic slump ever in U. S. History. The depression began in 1929 and lasted for about a decade. The main cause for the great depression was the combination of the greatly unequal distribution of wealth. What this film tells us about the Mexican-American population is that family is the most important thing in a person’s life and the strength of the Latino family. The film started in a small village in Mexico in the year of 1926 when Jose Sanchez (Jacob Vargas) moved across to California to look for a better living.
The only living relative Jose Sanchez had was in Los Angeles. It took him over a year to get to the other side. Finally he reached Los Angeles. The border in those days was just a line in the dirt. El Californio was the name of the only living relative Jose had. They called the old man “El Californio” because he didn’t come from anywhere else; he was born here in California when it was still Mexico. Children soon followed, first Paco then Irene. Jose Sanchez was always working in the milpa (corn in the back and beans in the front).
Then came the day that everything changed, when Maria (Jose’s wife) didn’t come home from the market. It was the time of the great depression. Some politicians got it into their heads that the mexicanos were responsible for the whole thing. The mexicanos were taking up a lot of jobs, jobs that were needed for real americans, so the migra made some big sweeps through the barrio. If you looked mexicano you were picked up and shipped to Mexico.
Maria was all alone and pregnant, the year was 1933. The Southern Pacific railroad made the U. S. government a deal, for $14. a head, they took the mexicanos all the way back into Central Mexico, hoping they wouldn’t be able to get back. They buried El Californio in the backyard. He left a will, left everything to Jose Sanchez. But El Californio made it clear that he didn’t want anything to do with the church or the pinche government. He wanted to be buried right behind the house under the cornfield. El Californio said exactly what he wanted writtenon his gravemarker “Don Alejandro Vazquez (El Californio) died in 1934. When I was born here, this was Mexico and where I lie this is still Mexico.
Then a few a weeks later when El Californio had died Maria tries to come back. Maria kept her promise that when her son (Chucho) was old enough she would set off on her long journey home. But in those years the rain came early. The water was too high in the river and it was too dangerous to get across. Maria saw an owl in the daytime (meaning death was about to come). Maria and his son Chucho almost died in the terrifying river. They made it across but Chucho was very sick and was taken to some Indian ladies to cure him.
Two years had passsed and Maria finally made it home with his son Chucho. The family was again together after a real long struggle Maria had made. Then they had a few more children and they were living happily and they also had problems with their children, they were struggling with their children. The main characters in the film were: Paco who became a writer, Irene who had her family restaurant, Toni who married a priest, Memo who was a lawyer, Jimmy who became a good father, and Chucho who was killed by the cops.
Ant the most important, the parents who made the family, Jose and Maria. My Family’s scenes shift through a narrator, the Sanchez’ oldest son, Paco, portrayed by Edward James Olmos. Paco’s narrating voice explains in a soothing and pride, in their Mexican heritage, despite the Los Angeles environment of extreme prejudice against persons with brown skin. As Jose’s family grows and the world changes, so do the triumphs and struggles in the family. Mi Familia traces over three generations an immigrant family’s trials, tribulations, tragedies, and triumphs.
Maria and Jose, the first generation, come to Los Angeles, meet marry, and face deportation all in the 1930’s. They establish their family in East LA, and their children Chucho, Paco, Irene, Memo, Toni, and Jimmy deal with youth culture and the LA police in the 50’s. As the second generation become adults in the 60’s, the focus shifts to Jimmy, his marriage to Isabel (a Salvadorian refugee), their son, and Jimmy’s journey to becoming a responsible parent. The most important part of the film to me is when Maria crosses the river and makes the very long journey to go home with her husband Jose.