El Norte American Dream

[El Norte & The Reality of the American Dream] {America, the Land of the Free, the Land of Opportunity.} Built on immigration and comprising of people from countries all around the world, America ironically extends a cold and uninviting attitude towards modern-day immigrants. Many people come to America in hopes of establishing better lives for themselves and their families, often to face horrific struggles and ultimately find disappointment in their endeavors. El Norte, a film that highlights immigration from Central America, specifically critiques the immigration issue in America through the story of a brother and sister’s ordeals experienced in their journey both to the United States and once in the country. El Norte demonstrates the unachievable

While the American dream sounds good in theory, one’s expectations of this notion are rarely ever met, as demonstrated in the housekeeping scene in El Norte. [The scene begins as the camera strategically pans up from the floor, sweeping over Rosa’s body, focusing on the attire, which she believes to be typical American clothing that she now wears]. As the camera fixates on Rosa’s face, a car horn is heard honking from off screen. The next medium close up shot captures Rosa’s array of emotions as her expression transforms from one of confusion to one of recognition, excitement and hopefulness. While back in Guatemala, as shown earlier in the movie, Rosa and her family heard tales of even the poorest of Americans owning cars, an idea that greatly influenced Rosa’s perception of America and the American dream prior to experiencing life in America firsthand. The clip then employs a series of cross-cuts and parallel editing to further show Rosa realization of the realities of her new life in