The steady rise, throughout the latter part of the 1990s, of
Latino-flavored content and the profiles of its creators has given way to a veritable
flurry in the past several years, and the past 14 months has been no exception,
with the recent $5 million Sundance purchase of the film La Misma Luna; Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas’ Bordertown,
from director Gregory Nava, securing distribution through THINKFilm; and, most
of all, a trio of Latin American directors with projects nominated at this past
year’s Academy Awards,
including Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Babel, which scored a surprise
Golden Globe victory. Given these developments and more, it’s hard to ignore
the ascendant power and influence of south-of-our-border culture.

A box office hit in its native Mexico,
2004’s Al Otro Lado arrives with an
Oscar-burnished image, having served as Mexico’s
official entry for best foreign film at the 78th annual Academy Awards. Written
and directed by Gustavo Loza (2003’s Deep
Silence), the film is a poignant story, and a fairly star-studded one at
that, if your eyes are at all trained on international cinema. Volver’s
Carmen Maura, Amores Perros’ Vanessa
Bauche and Innocent Voices’ Adrian
Alonso star in the movie, which follows the lives of three children from three
different countries (Morocco, Cuba and Mexico) who all share the same loss —
the absence of a father who has emigrated searching for a better quality of life.

Most of this flight, of course, is motivated by a desire to
provide for a better life for one’s family — even if this means a corporeal separation
from them. Sometimes, though, it’s tinged with irresponsibility or
self-interest. Al Otro Lado is told
from the viewpoint of those left behind, and through their melancholic
grappling we come to understand their desires and dreams, all the universality
of their plight, even in its unique specificity.

Calling Al Otro Lado
— loosely translated as “to the other side” — very much a “festival film” isn’t a slam,
per se, it’s just calling it like it is. After all, the movie’s entertained
playdates at AFI Fest, the Damascus
Film Festival, the Manheim Heidelberg Film Festival, and the Palm
Springs, Portland
and Newport Beach International Film Festivals. The fact remains, though, that however
beautifully photographed it is at times, in its own grimy way, the movie still remains a niche curio. With her
wide, expressive eyes, Maura remains an actress of uncommon allure, and her
segment here is the most effective and interesting in a well-meaning but overall uneven endeavor.

Perhaps as a result of a passing acquaintance of mine — a maintenance
employee at my apartment complex, and probably the hardest worker on their
entire staff, a guy indispensable due to both sheer effort and multi-field handiness
— recently dealing with the impending loss of his job, if not facing the outright
threat of deportation, Al Otro Lado succeeded
more for me in tangentially arousing feelings of ruminative sympathy than as a
piece of dramatic agitprop. The same may be true for you. The Univision DVD
release of the movie, unfortunately, leaves a good bit to be desired. Menu
selections can be made in either English or Spanish, and there’s a 40-minute
making-of documentary — the sole supplemental extra — replete with location scouting footage from Havana
and Mariel, Cuba,
interspersed with on-set rehearsal footage. But compression issues, artifacting
and other digital hiccups mar the transfer and visual presentation. To purchase the DVD, via Amazon, click here. C+ (Movie) C-
(Disc)