Discuss 1 cinematic technique (framing, angle, camera movement of a shot) in 1 specific scene which Fukunaga develops as a way of visually representing the border-crossing narrative, and discuss its meaning to the film as a whole.
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I’ve been having a lot of trouble getting these to post properly, I keep submitting them and then they don’t go through. I’m hoping that updating my computer will fix the issue.
In the scene where the gang meets in the cemetery, there is an overhead shot right after the meeting ends. All the members are standing and navigating their way around the graves. It is a very crowded area and the overhead shot serves to show how close everyone is to the graves. The balance of life and death is very tenuous throughout the movie. Death is so frequent and treated so lightly within the narrative by the characters. They can kill a rival and, at least on the surface, move on in thirty seconds. But what the scene in the cemetery reminds us is that all that lack of feeling is superficial. The members of the gang, especially Smiley and Casper, are surrounded by the people who they couldn’t save, and the movie encourages us to think about how trapped they feel. Later in the movie El Casper is hunted down because of who he killed and is killed himself by someone who he helped kill a rival. It is a cycle that binds people together and there is no true escape. The overhead crowded shot reminds us that everyone in that cemetery will soon return there, but as the victim of some act of violence.
The overhead shot of the meeting also shows us the border of the cemetery, which can be seen as a metaphor for the U.S.-Mexico border. Across the lines of the cemetery, there is a world in which someone is not surrounded by death and if they could just cross that line, there could be freedom. Martha Malen was close to that line when she was “escorted” out, but she was not able to make it to that cemetery border and was killed. Just as the U.S. border is seen as a line that could lead to a better life, the cemetery border is the same. Martha Malen was almost out, almost to a life that could have made her and El Casper happier, but a brutal system prevented her from getting there.
During the denouement, in the very last scene of the film, Fukunaga uses a bird’s eye shot of Sayra. She crosses a grass field, which seems endless as the camera slowly zooms out, until a road finally enters the shot, where the camera pans off of her to focus on the scenery that she approaches: a large parking lot, dull industrial buildings, warehouses, and semi-trucks. This scenery fades into the horizon, obscured by a think, almost smoggy haze. This effect acts as a visual metaphor to represent the end of the border-crossing narrative that has been developed throughout the movie. Despite the fact she already crossed the literal Mexico-US border when she crossed the river, the road in this shot acts as a visual representation of that border in a narrative sense. Just past the road is the real United States in all its industrial, corporate glory.
In the broader context of the rest of the film, this shot contrasts with other scenes that focus on or feature scenic factors. Much of the earlier scenes had dense foliage, clear skies and were natural yet vivid. This contrast between nature and the influx of man made structures past the road truly accentuates the difference between the world she knew and this new country, and cements in the end of Fukunaga’s border-crossing narrative.
The shot of all the families on the train just before they are robbed, sitting in small groups under tarps or plastic bags (about 40 minutes into the movie), represents the overall narrative of the border crossing throughout the movie. All of the characters are being moved forward, but not necessarily under their own power. The people on the train have no way of controlling their speed, stability, or direction, and have to trust that they’re going in the right direction. In the same way, each character in the movie, especially Willy and Sayra, are being pushed forward by events outside themselves. While they decide where they are going by taking actions at the beginning, their options become limited as time goes on, they’re forced to react to the actions of those around them instead of making proactive decisions. Additionally, the rain in this shot provides foreshadowing for the actions of La Mara. They’re hard to escape completely, like the rain in the show, and overwhelm Willy completely, forcing him to try and escape without any substantial cover.
The scene at 42:45 demonstrates a metaphorical border that appears as a motif throughout “Sin Nombre,” and is demonstrated through a more physical rendition in the shot. In the scene, Lil’ Mago gets pushed off the train by Casper during their physical altercation. Lil’ Mago was robbing the immigrant stowaways aboard the train at gunpoint, and Casper decided he had gone too far when he threatened to rape Sayra, a young woman on a journey to the United States to be reunited with her family. Casper attacks Lil’ Mago, kicking him off the train and down onto the tracks below. There is a very clear line between the edge of the train and the rough terrain below which is emphasized through the camera angle – the scene is shot from above, and we can easily see Lil’ Mago drop off the edge when he is pushed by Casper. This scene demonstrates Casper himself going over ‘the edge’ – or in other words, a metaphorical border – as he rescinds his loyalty to La Mara. Casper’s internal moral battle is very clearly represented in this scene, where he has decided to do the right thing and save Sayra from being raped and possibly killed (just like his late lover). However, crossing this dangerous border does not end well for Casper when he is killed at the end of the movie by Smiley. Casper’s ultimate death is symbolic of the sad fate that awaits at-risk young boys on the other side of the border, as even after he makes the decision to cut his affiliation with La Maga, it’s a label that he can’t shake for the rest of the movie. This demonstrates that even though Casper has seemingly crossed the border out of his life of brutality, it will follow him forever. This devastating motif is seen again at the end of the movie, when a tattooed Smiley falls into the clutches of La Mara as well, condemned to a life of depraved violence.
About an hour in (at the 59 minute mark), the scene of all the migrants on top of the train was very powerful to me. The greenery and the hominess of the scene, despite being in the middle of no where was intriguing. Fukunaga does a great job of showing comradery and a sense of community in this scene, especially with the kids following the train and with everyone waving goodbye to them. The music is light and the bright colors and scenery shown as the train moves forward symbolizes a hope for a better tomorrow. Together, this community is moving froward and they are kind of celebrating this change in a way. Its a great scene to include in order to further an emotional tie and connection to the characters right before Casper expresses his concerns with being held back by the immigration police at the next station and before a gang shoot out scene. The light air and strong communal energy quickly takes a darker turn, which adds to the scarier elements of the movie. When the migrants begin to run from the train station and the music gets darker, the sun and warm colors seem so juxtaposing because they were just being used to convey a sense of happiness and connection, and now they are doing the exact opposite.
The scene at 1:03 is contextualized by Casper running from members of La Mara who are trying to shoot him. He ends up below a train-track/station to find cover, and the resulting still-image capture that caught my attention resembles Casper crawling through dark trenches. The camera angle is from underground, and the scene is dark besides a few streams of warm light that have made it down. Though Casper passes through this setting in a mere couple of seconds, I believe Fukunaga packs in the essence of the border-crossing narrative. First of all, he places the viewer in the “trenches” along with Casper to experience the battle that is immigration. The below-ground element conveys that the border-crossing experience is supposed to be secretive and often tumultuous and uncharted. Trenches tend to symbolize a place of protection, however, in the movie, the temporary protection pales in the danger of border-crossing as a whole, creating some situational irony. The glints of light juxtapose the darkness by conveying a glint of hope in the journey that few people actually survive. In the entirety of the movie, only Sayra “gets out of the trenches”. When Casper actually crawls through and out of the tunnel, the camera doesn’t follow him, and instead passes through to the other side. This removes the viewer from the experience to portray that though viewers can sympathize with the storyline, most can’t empathize with the characters on the trek.
Shortly after escaping his gang, Mara Salvatrucha, Casper is again on the train with Sayra and the family she’s traveling to the United States with. The scene opens with them gathering brush from the side of the railways to make a fire for warmth, and the second half of the scene features close-ups of the travelers as the train goes through a tunnel. The close up of Sayra’s father as he looks at the small photo he has of his other family in New Jersey reveals his deep-rooted heartache, having made the risky journey back to Honduras to fetch Sayra. He is repeating the long, dangerous, and emotionally taxing journey across the border, and by providing this close up, Fukunaga highlights the difficulty of this task. After having a close up of the family photo, the camera moves to a close up of Sayra watching her father, suggesting a non-tangible border within her own life: she is alienated from her own father. Not only is Sayra having to leave Honduras, which is her current home, but she has to do so with a family member that she isn’t necessarily close with, leaving her extremely alone on this journey. Fukunaga uses close ups to create a more intimate scene that reveals the tough and exhausting emotion behind the journey north.
At the 37 (37:09) minute mark, there is a scene with the train in the center of the shot. Smiley, Casper, and Mago all cross in front of the train. The scene is at night and as they are crossing the train, the fog rolls in on both sides of the train almost to “disguise” them as they reach the other side of the tracks. The technique that is being used here is the positioning of the camera. Fukunaga centers the train and has the fog appear which creates an ominous atmosphere. This can also be used as foreshadowing. Smiley, Mago, and Casper all have impending doom and are going to the “dark side” by crossing in front of the train and drifting into the fog. Moreover, the shot being at night makes the fog all the more visible and an important element. Fog often conceals what’s inside of it and this can also serve as another way Fukunaga foreshadows all the character’s fates. Mago and Casper are both going to their death and Smiley is following behind and although he does not die, his innocence and humanity does.
Although this scene only lasts around three seconds I think it acts as an essential scene in the film. By crossing the tracks, all three characters are accepting their fate even if it is unknown to them. They are choosing to cross a mental barrier in their mind while taking the first steps by crossing the physical border of the tracks.
In the last few minutes of Sin Nombre, just after Smiley and the other members of La Mara kill Willy, two brief shots picture first Willy’s body and then Sayra across the river, each separated from the camera by tree branches in the foreground. A singular bough crosses the lens during the shot of Willy lying submerged in the river, while Sayra sits stricken with low-hanging foliage all around her, but the quick succession of the images illustrates a clear barrier between the characters and the camera, distancing them not only from the audience but also from each other. Especially when juxtaposing these two back-to-back shots, the trees reflect the sudden locked gate of death that has closed between Sayra and Willy. On one side of the branches is Willy, along with death and the cold finality of the vengeance La Mara has wrought. On the other side is Sayra, who, ending the film with a successful telephone call to Yessenia in New Jersey, represents an opening chapter. At the conclusion of the film, the two characters stand on opposite edges of a gaping chasm, not only in life versus death, but also in symbolic terms: ending versus opportunity; stagnance versus movement. Despite his efforts, Willy could not escape the reach of La Mara, eventually dying just before crossing the river, the border. Meanwhile, the last we see Sayra is at the beginning of a phone call, leaving her story very much still in progress, in flux. This comparison between Willy and Sayra, the lines drawn by trees through the camera angle, contextualizes themes that run throughout the entire film by asking in no uncertain terms what the border means to the characters. The border means Border Patrol, smugglers with dubious motives, danger. The border means opportunity, reunion with distant family, hope. Willy’s fate and Sayra’s open-ended resolution leave no question that the border is all of these at once.
The cinematic technique I chose to talk about for this assignment was the optical illusion of the fall foliage at the beginning of the film. When the movie starts, there is a wide shot, panning between a picturesque scene and Willy staring forward towards something. With the camera angle, the foliage looks realistic, and could presumably be a shot of the Northeast, with Willy looking out of a window. However, as the camera zooms out, it’s revealed that it’s a mural on a wall. At this point, Willy stands up, revealing his MS-13 tattoo – the mural is placed firmly within the context of a gang hideout.
I felt that this scene very effectively foreshadowed the major themes in “Sin Nombre.” When Willy ends up on the train to the US, he hopes the transition from Mexico to the United States also means a transition from life in MS-13 to a life free from it. However, he finds himself unable to escape the context he has put himself in.
Around two thirds of the way through the film, right after El Casper/Willy escapes from La Mara, there is a scene where he sits with Sayra, her uncle, her father, and a friend around a makeshift fire at the back of a train car (Fukunaga 1:04:45). The framing in this shot is very revealing. At first glance, it appears to show the bridging of a border between El Casper/Willy and Sayra’s group—a border drawn up by the latter out of fear and prejudice. This shot being one of the rare times when all of these characters are captured within a single frame, it seems to show that El Casper/Willy has finally been accepted; the fire a symbol for the warming of their relationship and the closing of the gulf between them as they find connection through their shared journey.
However, upon closer inspection, there is a pole which divides the shot, separating El Casper/Willy and Sayra from the other men. This is clever foreshadowing for when they actually do separate from the group soon after this scene, and it also symbolizes the unbridgeable border that exists between their mindsets about the border crossing. For the men, the border crossing is an opportunity to find safety and upward mobility in the United States; the crossing is about physically reaching the destination. Sayra and El Casper/Willy, however, get lost in the journey itself; they are seeking escape from aspects of their pasts and inner selves which cannot be attained by crossing physical borders. Fukunaga’s choice to frame the scene this way visually represents the both physical and mental separations between characters which are the driving force at the heart of this border narrative.
At the end of the film, after he has shot and killed Willy, Smiley is finally truly initiated by La Mara. A close-up shows a hand tattooing his bloody inner lip with M.S. initials, proving he is a true member of the gang. Zooming out, the camera then pans over his face as he winces in pain from a high angle. Afterward, it switches to show El Sol and three other members of La Mara nodding at Smiley in approval. This shot is from a low angle, making it abundantly clear that the other members are still in a position of power over Smiley. All elements of this scene, lasting no longer than 10 seconds, are tragic and heartbreaking. Smiley is forever part of La Mara now, his body branded by them. This may be what he wanted all along, but the close-up of the blood and the look of distress on his face prove that this decision will only bring him more pain. He has truly crossed the border into a life of brutality, and now there is no turning back. The men standing over him will always be giving him orders, turning him from a child into a soulless and depraved man. Fukanga’s decision to even include this scene is incredibly important to the storyline, giving the viewer ground to predict Smiley’s tumultuous future with the gang. This os a clear visual representation of the crossing of a border. It may not be the physical one that the other characters are attempting to travel across, but it is arguably more dangerous and deadly.
About halfway through the movie, just after Casper has killed Mago and ordered Smiley to return home, we see Smiley walking along the train tracks for about ten seconds. There is no sound, other than the light crunching of gravel, and we only focus on Smiley. To me, that is the representation of Smiley leaving any trace of boyhood behind. He is walking away from Casper, who has just shown him what it means to attempt to do the moral thing, and he’s walking back toward those who mean to corrupt him.
The most striking moment of camerawork in this scene is when we begin on one side of the train tracks, almost from the perspective of Smiley staring at the ground, and we shift across the tracks to see Mago’s body. The visual of seeing it from Smiley’s perspective was quite jarring, as it feels like something he could have missed if he kept staring down and walking. But when he “crosses the tracks”, he is crossing the border of innocence and deniability, committing himself to revenge (although in the scene, we are still somewhat unsure of what seeing Mago’s body actually means to Smiley).
At the very end of the film, Sayra successfully gets in the river to cross, and is about halfway successful when Casper’s gang finally catches up (on the Mexico side of the border) and shoots him. During this shot, the camera is handheld and partially submerged under the water. This cinematic technique essentially puts the audience in Sayra’s perspective; we are also struggling to stay afloat in the water and can almost feel the bobbing motion due to the camera’s shakiness. This effect merges Sayra and the audience as one: we feel that we are much closer to her, as the intensity of the scene is only heightened by Fukunaga’s stylistic choice. While the entire film up until this point had been about crossing the border, this moment in particular stood out to me the most since there is no other point where the camera is framed or angled in this unique way. Fukunaga’s ability to transcend the cinematic border of an audience simply watching a screen to feeling as if they themselves are crossing the river is the climax of the film, and acts to visually represent the border-crossing narrative in a visceral, intentional way.