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Ivonne Contreras (right) and Manuel Garcia Rulfo co-star in Valle de Lágrimas.
One of the toughest things when watching a movie that deals with a social or political issue, to any degree, is that it is sometimes difficult to write about. The main issue is that you have to divorce your personal views on the issue aside, and deal with the film itself. Don’t judge the subject, judge the film.
Valle de Lágrimas is a film that deals specifically and emotionally about the plight of illegal immigrants in the United States. And while normally I would disregard my own personal feelings on the matter, this short film relies on your personal views in order for it to work. So much so, in fact, that your feelings on the subject will directly effect if you enjoy or dismiss this work.
The story centers on a Mexican couple, José (Manuel Garcia Rulfo) and Lupe (Ivonne Contreras). Lupe has just been smuggled into the United States to be reunited with her husband, José, who has been here for some time. She gets a job as a housekeeper for a fraternity, while José is a janitor. But when he loses his job, he’s forced to turn to a life of crime dealing drugs, a decision that may destroy everything.
It is not my intention to be cold, or get into a political debate about the issue of illegal immigration. I’m hesitant to get into it, but the film demands such a discussion is had. Clearly Valle de Lágrimas wants you to feel sorry for the people involved. That their simple, almost happy lives are threatened because of how difficult their lives are here in the United States. But the film seems to expect that the audience will automatically feel for these people. It doesn’t effectively build the characters in any relatable way, it simply paints them as a struggling couple whose illegal status makes life difficult.
This over-reliance on the characters being illegals means if you feel that illegal immigrants are wrong for even being here, you’re not going to care about Lupe or José’s plight. Every problem they face are those faced solely by illegal immigrants and ultimately are their own doing (they chose to come here, José chose to get into drug dealing), so how someone views this film depends on their point of view. Had the film built more sympathy for Lupe or José outside of the illegal issue, it could have been far more effective.
Valle de Lágrimas also seemed to rush though the story. For example, when we see Lupe encounter a drunk man on a kitchen counter, we don’t find out until afterwards that she works as a frat house. Personally, I thought perhaps the drunk was her brother or son or something along those lines. That lack of clarity made the opening a little confusing. The film could have done a better job of establishing its characters.
The same can be said for José. We don’t know how long he has been in this country, so when he loses his job, then makes the immediate choice to get into dealing drugs, it’s too forced. Here’s a guy making a bad choice and there’s no justification for it. Clearly the point is since he’s illegal he has no other options, but the film doesn’t explore those option. We don’t see him try to lead a straight-life before being forced to turn to illegal dealing to get money.
In the end, Valle de Lágrimas was trying harder to make a point about the struggles of illegal immigrants than it was in telling a story. This hampers what could have been an effective film about a sector of society striving to find a place for themselves.
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