Sin Nombre and the Border
Sin Nombre, or “Nameless” is a look into the struggles Mexican immigrants face while trying to migrate north, past the border into the United States. During research for the film director Cary Joji Fukunaga discovered that many migrants not only face deportation and injustice from border patrol but also exploitation from local gangs. The MS13 gang is considered a “nation” with deep ties in both Mexico and the US. The border has become something uncontrollable, split down the middle yet covered in hostile gang territory and crime. Sin Nombre dives into the harsh reality of being a duel citizen in Mexico while living as part of the MS13 gang nation.
In the film El Casper, a MS13 member, has just rebelled against the gang by killing its leader Lil’ Mago. Fearing his life and running from the gang members he once called brothers, Casper boards a train headed to the US. While riding he meets Sayra, who was traveling with her father and uncle in hopes of finding their second family who are already in the US. Sayra’s father was accidentally killed and her uncle deported back home. On the journey the two become outcasts as Casper’s gang affiliated past keeps him away from other migrants and Sayra’s entire family slips farther and farther away from her grasp.
On the other side of the Mexican mirror by Guillermo Gomez-Pena duel citizenship is expressed as something powerful with “the ability of imagining a more enlightened future for both countries”(3). The reality of duel citizenship, however, is that it often creates alienation as opposed to unity. Gomez-Pena writes that migrants become “instant traitors, inauthentic and bastardized… the forgotten orphans of the Mexican nation-state”(3). While the article discusses immigrants as being metaphorically marked in society, Casper is literally marked with gang tattoos that keep him distant from everyone else. It’s Sayra’s ability to see the good in Casper that steers her toward his path into the US and away from anyone else on the train.
While on their journey Casper and Sayra constantly hide and run from both the border patrol and the ruthless MS13 members that are hunting them down. By using every possible means of transportation and secrecy the two are able to slip past the obstacles, both natural and man-made, that makes up the Mexico/US border. Although the actual border is never shown in the film each scene deals with the characters overcoming metaphorical and sometimes literal borders in the forms of refugee camps, bridges, and fences or walls
The Border Syndrome work describes the many variations of borders and the ways they change the societies around them. While some are considered “folds” or “sponges” the most interesting and relevant is the “funnel” border. Funnels are described as “boundaries that select and direct flows within a threshold…from one side of the fence to the other ”(1). Even though both parties control the border “delays in the continuity of the flow…filter and segregate some of its elements and give it a direction”(1). As the US becomes less tolerant of illegal immigration the border begins to shut down on one side, leaving the other to fend for itself. The areas around the Mexican border are seen as becoming a hostile no-mans land where only the willing survives. Cultural outcasts flock to the area with hopes of making something out of their lives only to turned down or “filtered” out with the rift raft.
Casper and Sayra manage to make it all the way to a secluded river dividing the US and Mexico. After paying off local crime lords they are granted access to cross the river and finally make it to their destination. As Casper pushes Sayra off into the river and to safety his troubled past catches up with him. MS13 members ambush him and kill Casper before he is able to escape. Heart broken over the death of her new friend, but pushing forward, Sayra is able to make it to a mega mall in the US where she calls her family already living there. The film ends with a sense of closer as Sayra has made it through the many obstacles laid before her and is now able to find a new and better life across the border.
Sin Nombre stands for the nameless bodies that come and go from the borderlands. Fukunaga set out to make a film that expressed those agonies and heartbreaks felt by illegal immigrants that simply want something better for themselves. The film as the ability to show both the positive outcome of opening the border and the tragedies of negative stereotypes that play into keeping it closed. Sin Nombre is a tribute to those who have fought and both won and lost the battle into freedom and happiness, it is a true reminder of the nameless.
Bibliography
Boeri, Stefano. “Border Syndrome : Notes for a Research Program.” Territories: Islands,
Camps, and Other States of Utopia. Ed. Anselm Franke. Berlin: Konig, 2003.
Chataigne, Christophe. “A Journey on the Railroad”. The Socialist Review. July 2009
Gomez-Pena, Guillermo. On the other side of the Mexican Mirror Ethno-Techno:
Writings on performance, activism, and pedagogy. Ed. Elaine Pena. New York and
London: Routledge, 2005.
Johnson, Reed. “Crossing borders with ‘Sin Nombre’”. Los Angeles Times. Mar. 8, 2009
Sin Nombre. Dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga. Prod. Amy Kaufman. Focus Features, 2009
Group Presentations on the Border
Throughout the readings and class discussions covered in this module we have learned that the border is a line or zone in a geographical boundary, which grants control over a territory. Borders help to determine cultural entities and differences while granting legal jurisdictions in specified zones. During the group presentations the border has been seen as a dividing line between the good and evil, a permeable barrier covering natural land features, and a disappearing obstacle in the technological world of tomorrow. In the film Babel, a border is expressed as something both physically and psychologically dividing cultures. As tragedy strikes in all corners of the world characters must come together and over come their hardships. Televisions and telephone communication allow the border to simply disappear as one person can contact another halfway around the globe. The Frozen River takes a look at the permeability of a border, as a woman and her friend become illegal smugglers crossing over the Canada/US border. Human trafficking goes from something taboo in society to a business venture in order to support a family in need. In the distant future universe of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country the border is the only thing protecting evil from good. As the Federation learns of a troubled Klingon ship they must decide whether or not it is morally wrong to ignore the distress calls of an enemy ship. Over the coarse of the film the border becomes a dividing not for good or bad, but simply something that separates cultures and their differences. Young Casper finds out how corrupt the border is as he travels into northern Mexico to cross into the US. Not only must Casper deal with border patrol from both nations but also over come the MS13 “gang nation” as they try to ambush him. The neutral zone near the border leaves an open slot for corrupt gang members to take control of the land. While separating and driving cultures away from each other the border also has the ability to connect and bring societies closer together. When given the opportunity to change nations have the ability to learn and grow stronger together but if left unnoticed the border serves as a thorn in both sides. It ultimately up to the people to determine how the border is presented as a barrier or as a middle ground between cultures.
