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Reel world: Romántico
Isn't it Romántico?
By Joe Nguyen
nguyejos@mscd.edu

Photo courtesy of Meteor Films Carmelo Muñiz Sánchez is the subject of director Mark Becker’s documentary Romántico.

What’s more important: staying together as a family, or finding work to support your loved ones even if it means traveling hundreds of miles away?

Director Mark Becker (Lost Boys of Sudan) explores this question in his latest feature-length documentary, Romántico. The movie follows Carmelo Muñiz Sánchez, a Mexican musician who migrated to America in order to make more money to send home. Although the cinematography is often hit-or-miss, the story is sure to capture the audience’s attention.

In 1997 Sánchez left his hometown of Salvatierra, a city more than 1,000 miles south of the border. After working a number of odd jobs, he contacted his friend Arturo Arias, who helped find him jobs as a car washer and musician in San Francisco. But after three years in the States, Sánchez felt the need to return to his family.

Becker follows Sánchez through his time in San Francisco to his return to Salvatierra. Using a non-narrative approach, the director lets his subjects tell the story, allowing for an intimate view into their lives. The result is an engrossing tale that captures the struggles and sacrifices this man endured for the well-being of his family.

Certain aspects of Becker’s filmmaking style make the film difficult to watch, however. Early on, Sánchez and Arias are shown walking through San Francisco in slow motion. Although this effect worked well in setting the mood in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, it adds nothing to this film.

While in Mexico, Sánchez is placed in obvious poses as he stands and stares toward the camera while people go about their lives. Some of these bystanders turn to look at Sánchez to find out why he’s staring into space.

These shots detract from the realism documentaries are supposed to have and create an out-of-place, overly artsy tone.

Despite its aesthetic flaws, Romántico is an interesting look at a side of the illegal immigration issue not often seen by the general public.