Como Agua Para Chocolate

There were many very interesting characters in this film. The first being the mother, Mama Elena. It is difficult to know if she was always so angry, or if this occurred with the death of her husband. The way she treated Tita with such hatred was shocking. It was as though Tita were born a servant, and not her own flesh and blood. Although she was not much kinder to her other children. You know the thought had to have crossed her mind. Nacha was a wonderful character who shaped Tita into the wonderful, caring person that she was. The skills she bestowed upon Tita, the ability to cook and to nurse those who were in need are what enabled Tita to get through the tormented days she endured until her mother died. How sad for Tita that Nach died when she did. Gertrudis, WOW. She knew she had to get away from her mother as quickly as she could, and she did. Another blow to Tita, who was now alone with her mother, Pedro and Rosaura and the baby. I was very happy to hear Gertrudis tell Tita that she shouln't worry about how Rosauro felt when she married Pedro knowing he and Tita were in love. Pedro was so in love with Tita that he married her sister just to be close to her. Even though I wanted Tita and Pedro to be together I was disappointed when they did make love before Rosaura died. Maybe if they had run away I would have been more understanding, I just felt that he should leave Rosaura before he was with Tita. I think I really wanted Tita to marry Dr. John Brown and live happily ever after. He was so kind, and seemed to only want the best for Tita. He was so unselfish that he agreed to marry Tita even though he knew she had slept with Pedro. I really felt that he loved her even more than Pedro. I really enjoyed this movie.

Motorcycle Diaries

I feel there were several scenes in the film that revealed how Che's personality was shaped to be a future leader. I feel the most important one was when he was with his family saying goodbye. He was genuinely happy for all of his siblings and his parents to be there and hugged them all and expressed his feelings for them before he left on the motorcycle. His upbringing in a happy nurturing family was his strong base. The next scene that really seemed to touch him was when he met the couple on their way to the mine to find work. They had left their child with other family after losing their home to someone who had more money. They were cold, tired and exhausted, but were still trying to make a living. When he gave them something to drink and a blanket to warm them they seemed very appreciative. Later in the film you learn he gave the fifteen dollars that his girlfriend had given him to purchase American underwear to this couple. He could have spent that money on so many things along the way, when they were cold and hungry, when the motorcycle was not running. He became even more enraged when the miners were chosen and made to climb into the truck, they were hungry and thirsty and the foreman was only concerned that the potential miners were quick about leaving. I felt that as each day passed he saw more and more that made him want to change things to help those who were not well off. He saw farmers on his way to machu pichu who had had their land taken away. The working class who were being towed in the small boat behind the luxurious ship he was riding in on his way to stay at the Leper colony. It is obvious his friend Mial does not feel as passionate as he does about the sites that they see along the way. Is it because Mial is older than him and feels that he cannot change anything, or is it that Che feels that he cannot go on watching the injustice continue?

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

I thought the over the top interactions are what made the movie so humorous. I think some of the feelings were over reacted, but often times people do over react about big upsets in their lives.
I do not really think there is a big difference between women in the film and today's American women. As nurses, we often see patients and/or their families over react. At times it is understandable given the situation at that time. But there are also times that the reaction is not warranted. Years ago I worked at a nursing home where a patient's family member actually brought a hammer in and tried to hit the patient's nurse with it because she didn't think she was doing a good job! No one was hurt, but I think over reacting is pretty common everywhere!
I thought the plot was good. Ivan was a terrible womanizer, but the women he was with knew what he was doing so on some level they were just as guilty. Pepa knew he was married, I think. But even though his marriage was still legal, they had not been together in years because she was in the mental institution. So, maybe Pepa was not really guilty, but the lawyer woman was. She watched every event unfold and yet she still hopped on the plane with Ivan knowing he was married and had a scorned lover!
I don't think there is much of a difference between Spanish American women and Spanish European women other than location.
I thought the movie was cute, but at times predictable.

Machuca

I thought the attitudes that the boys displayed did show how they were raised. Machuca was at first a bit unwilling to make friends with the others. It wasn't until he saw that Gonzalo was really going to make an effort to be friends that he let his guard down. I was very impressed with Gonzalo for going to Machuca's "neighborhood". He could have been so frightened and disgusted that he wouldn't go back, but he returned on many occassions. I was saddened by Machuca's response when he saw Gonzalo's room and all of his belongings. I really didn't notice Gonzalo make a big deal about the differences in their lives until the end when he said to the guard, "look at me! I don't belong here!" They had a much better friendship than Gonzalos and the little blonde boy who was such a bad kid.
The social classes were very obvious. Machuca didn't have his own room or bed, while Gonzalo had a closet full of clothes and his own books. They had running water and electricity. I really commend Father McEnroe for trying so hard to make the children be friends. He was a wonderful man and teacher. I was very impressed by Machuca standing up in the end to say goodbye to Father McEnroe. The courage that it took for him to do this was immense. I was happy that all the others then stood up also, but it is easier to rise with a group than to lead alone.
I think the film is to show that we are all equal. People should not be treated badly because of where they live, or what clothes they wear. The laws should be the same for everyone. I was appalled by the way the people living in poverty were being rounded up in the end of the film. The film was very sad, but I think it is a lesson to look around and see what is really going on around you.

Under The Same Moon

I really enjoyed this film. I feel that most of us have no idea what it feels like to want something so bad that we would leave our child behind, swim across a river, risk going to jail, and start life over again the way Carlito's mother did. I am also pretty sure most of our children have never experienced anything like Carlito did. Just watching the way his mother worked several jobs to save money for Carlito to be with her, knowing an unscrupulous lawyer had already taken thousands of dollars from her and she could take no action against him because she was not a legal citizen was very impressive, and shame on the lawyer. It was as though she and Carlito both would let nothing get in the way of their being together. The movie brought out so many emotions. Distrust of Carlito's uncle who only wanted to take care of him to get the money that his mother sent. Horror at the couple who helped Carlito across the border when they allowed him to be towed away in the van where he could have died from the heat, too afraid of what might happen to them if they spoke up. Paco was so honorable, wanting to help Carlito's mother by marrying her so she then would become a US citizen. And shame on the woman who fired his mother for being young, and not paying her for the time she had already worked. The stranger who helped Carlito and never let him down after he realized how resourceful the boy was, was a very caring man in the end, he was probably arrested and returned to Mexico. I would definetly recommend this movie to other's, even with the subtitles