'Cruzando' is Valley's first epic independent film

Cruzando might be the most high-profile film ever to emerge from the Rio Grande Valley. Since premiering last spring, the film has been making the rounds at some of the country’s most notable film festivals and racking up a growing collection of awards in the process.

But as the film makes its homecoming at 8:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11, South Texas audiences may be surprised to find out what all the buzz about it.

Valley filmmakers Michael Ray Escamilla and Mando Alvarado have not made Cruzando an “issue” movie. Oh, there are plenty of issues in the movie: immigration, race relations, injustice, social division. But like the best independent films, Cruzando is about its characters --- especially Meme (played by co-writer/co-director Escamilla), the wounded soul at the heart of the story.

Escamilla wisely leaves any “leading man” qualities at the door when stepping into this lead role.

Beyond his Sideshow Bob hairdo, the tall, lanky father-to-be is totally unremarkable. He wears his misery like a mask; beneath it is a lifetime of disappointment, starting the day his own father abandoned him to head across the river. Meme’s only contribution comes from his nauseating job as handyman at a brothel run by a sadistic old gringo (Tony Campisi). His very-pregnant wife (Maria Helan) loves him but is tired of the perpetual pity party. Things change suddenly as Meme receives some shocking news about his dad, a development that sends him on a journey of discovery into the United States.

But that’s not what the film is really about.

It’s more about Meme trying to outrun a pack of stray dogs on a bike without pants, or dancing with a chubby prostitute wearing an ultra-suggestive chorizo costume. Or Meme and Diego taking a few seconds off from their treacherous path through the Texas desert to gaze at a memorial cross decorated with flowers along the road.

To Escamilla and Alvarado, these aren’t segues away from the plot; they are the other side of humanity’s story, the moments of joy and hilarity and beauty that are inextricable from bleakness and pain.

Empathy, not reality, is what Cruzando tries to evoke.

Still, experts and scrutinizing Valleyites may grumble over the film’s light-hearted depiction of the very perilous process of immigration, as well as the Tex-Mex accent heard in the Spanish language of characters who come from Mexico. And surely it’s not that easy to elude the police at one of the state’s most guarded prisons, especially looking (and smelling) like you just crossed the desert.

Yet it’s rampant absurdity that makes this film memorable. While Meme’s ninja-like coyote bears no resemblance to any real immigrant smuggler, actor David Barrera (a San Juan native and primetime TV vet) and his directors have created something rarer: a character so flawed and semi-psycho he’s, well, a lot like us. And even though Meme’s sidekick, the oafish amateur filmmaker Diego (played with great abandon by Alvarado), may seem like mere comic relief, he ends up understanding far better than Meme the way irony weaves its way into our lives, especially when fathers and sons and families are involved.

The filmmakers owe a great deal to the virtuoso camera work by Bo Bilstrup and the mesmerizing guitar score by Enrique ‘Hank’ C. Feldman. Whether at rest or whipping dizzyingly around the characters, Bilstrup’s lens flawlessly adapts itself to the movie’s many mood swings. His portraits of the wide, empty Texas sky, often shown dwarfing Meme and Diego in its vastness, are almost a character in and of themselves.

Beyond being the film that might put Valley filmmaking on the map, Cruzando offers local audiences a rare chance to see some familiar things that hardly ever make it past the box office, e.g. raspa stands, pachangas with three dozen cousins, even the Watermill Express. A few one-liners (“I want to capture you taking an [expletive] in the air. Como Spielberg!”) are worth the price of admission alone. And if none of this sounds fun, you can spend the whole time trying to identify the locations (the movie was shot largely in San Juan).

Cruzando won’t make millions of dollars or A-listers out of its stars. It’s a lyrical, defiantly individual film that’s an artistic statement, made in the Valley by Valley artists. The rest of the country is taking notice. Shouldn’t you?

'CRUZANDO'
STARRING Michael Ray Escamilla, Mando Alvarado
WITH David Barrera, Maria Helan, Gerardo Rodriguez, Tony Campisi, Janis Dardaris
WRITTEN, DIRECTED & PRODUCED BY Michael Ray Escamilla, Mando Alvarado
LANGUAGES Spanish (with English subtitles), English
RUN TIME 95 min.
ONLINE www.cruzandothemovie.com

WATCH IT
WHEN 8:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 11
WHERE Texas State Technical College (TSTC) Cultural Arts Center, 1902 N. Loop 499, Harlingen

OFFICIAL SELECTION OF Washington D.C. International Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, Marfa Film Festival, Athens (Ohio) International Film Festival, Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, Seattle True Independent Film Festival

AWARDS Narrative Film Award (Athens (Ohio) International Film & Video Festival, 2nd Place; Best Actor (Escamilla), San Antonio Film Festival; Best Foreign Film, (Seattle True Independent Film Festival)

Brandon R. Garcia is editor of Festiva. You can reach him at bgarcia@themonitor.com.