The second film I watched over the weekend which I mentioned below, is called Sin Nombre (lit. Without Name). Sin Nombre is the feature directorial debut from Cary Fukunaga, which won the award for Dramatic Directing (Cary Fukunaga) as well as the award for Excellence In Cinematography (Adriano Goldman) at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

Sin Nombre revolves around the lives of three young individuals: Sayra, a young girl immigrating from Honduras; Willy (El Casper), a teenage boy who runs with the notorious gang, Mara Salvatrucha (MS13); and a young boy named Smiley who looks up and aspires to one day become a La Mara gang member.

El Casper (known as Willy only to his girlfriend, Martha Marlene) is trying to help Smiley get initiated into La Mara, a criminal organization that planted it’s seeds in Los Angeles, ultimately spreading it’s death-dealing chapters all the way down into the barrios of El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua. Smiley is purely innocent, young, naive and oblivious to the hazards that lay ahead of him. He simply wants to belong to something; to be apart of something great, and he sees potential in La Mara. Eventually, Smiley gets his wish, and is jumped in to the gang, a painful ordeal to watch, especially seeing such an innocent young boy parting with his soul. But Smiley, being the self-determined boy he is, walks out of the thirteen-second beatdown, even cracking a modest smile.

Casper, who’s a full-fledged La Mara member, works for Lil’ Mago, the gang’s leader, doing odd jobs here and there. Their main income comes by way of robbing the immigrants who use trains that are making journeys to the north, illegally stowing themselves away on board. Lil’ Mago has no idea that Casper has been shying away from his duties, and instead, spending time with his girlfriend, Martha, who has no clue as to what Casper is a part of. This doesn’t last long, and Casper is eventually caught up in a lie, but it’s actually Martha that pays the ultimate price.

Feeling that Mago cannot trust Casper and Smiley, Mago decides to tag-along with the two young boys and supervise their work (robbing the illegal train riders). This is where the story of Sayra, Casper, Mago & Smiley intertwine. Sayra, who is traveling with her father and uncle to New Jersey to visit relatives, is seen atop one of the train cars. Lil’ Mago, Casper and Smiley eventually catch up with the train that Sayra and her family are riding on when it comes to a complete stop, and begin their thievery, making way toward Sayra. Lil’ Mago attempts to rape Sayra, but Casper intervenes, killing Mago, and then ordering Smiley to get off the train. Smiley obliges, and makes the long trek back to his barrio, spotting Mago’s mutilated body along the way. He finally makes it back to the rest of his gang, explaining to El Sol, the new gang leader, what exactly happened, despite El Sol’s hesitations.

El Sol believes that Smiley should have taken control of the situation, and wants Smiley to prove himself by hunting down and killing Casper himself. Smiley promptly agrees, and the La Mara gang begin their journey/manhunt. Back on the train, Casper, self-isolating himself from the rest of the passengers on the train, finds comfort in Sayra, regardless of her family’s protests. Ultimately, Casper befriends Sayra’s family, and explains to them that they all must get off the train at the next stop in order to elude the border patrol officers, having made the same trip numerous times.

Late at night, Casper hops off the moving train, in fear of bringing Sayra into the middle of a soon-to-materialize bloodbath; but it’s shown that Sayra sneaks off the train to follow him. The two of them continue their travel northwards, all the while trying to evade El Sol, Smiley and the rest of the La Mara. Sayra spots a familiar individual who was traveling with her family, and asks what happened to them and if they are okay. The individual explains that Sayra’s uncle was caught and deported back to Honduras, whereas her father was killed while attempting to escape from Border Patrol, falling off the train on to the tracks. Subtly heartbroken, Sayra and Casper continue their voyage, eventually reaching the river, which when crossed, leads into America. Casper insists Sayra cross first, and while doing so, the La Mara gang spots Casper and begin to chase him. Smiley eventually catches up with Casper and….. well, you’ll just have to see for yourself, won’t you?

Sin Nombre reminds me of another damn near-perfect independent film from 1983, El Norte, which focuses on the fragile subject of illegal immigration, but with a modern twist, and a dash of American Me sprinkled in for good measure. Even though Casper’s former intentions are immoral and unethical, you’re left rooting for the two young characters, in the same way I was rooting for María, in María Full of Grace. Again, I believe Sin Nombre does not portray hidden political agendas, instead, it focuses on family vacancy, the unfilled void of being alone, the struggle and ultimate journey of immigrating and the hardships of friendship.