This document provides a summary of the plot of the film "El Norte". It describes how the film tells the story of siblings Rosa and Enrique who flee violence in Guatemala and journey to the United States as undocumented immigrants. The summary outlines the hardships they face along the journey and after arriving in the US, including exploiting coyotes for help crossing the border, living in fear of deportation, and Rosa's death from illness contracted during the underground travel. The document also provides context about the cultural aspects depicted in the film.

1. Director: Gregory Nava
Country of Origin:
Guatemala
Jennifer Black

2. • El Norte is a realistic
film about both the
Guatemalan
government’s
oppression of the
Quiche Indians and
the hard life of
illegal immigrants in
the United States

3. • The film begins with the destruction of the San
Pedro village with the deaths of several Quiche
Indians.
• To avoid being killed, 2 siblings (Rosa and Enrique)
decide to travel North to the U.S.

4. • During the journey, the
pair runs into several
helpful people to assist
in their journey but
later find the coyote
they were looking for.
• [Coyote- professional human
smuggler.]
• Rosa and Enrique make it
across the border.

5. • In order to cross the border, and live as immigrants in
the U.S., Rosa and Enrique pretend to be Mexican [using
stereotypes]
• They live in constant fear of deportation
• The pair obtain jobs, find a place to live, and enjoy
customs they have heard of such as “everyone has a car”
and “flushing toilets”.

6. • Rosa meets Nacha at a
clothing factory.
• The factory is later raided
by the government for
employing illegal
immigrants.
• Nacha and Rosa team up
and clean houses
together.
• Rosa has trouble adapting
to the technology and
depends on her well know
way of cleaning clothes.

7. • While cleaning one day, Rosa gets
sick and faints while working.
• She is rushed to the hospital and
later dies from an infection that she
got after being bitten by rats during
the underground travel to the U.S.

8. • Enrique gets an opportunity of a life time
when he gets a job offer in Chicago.
• He turns this down when he hears Rosa is sick
(from Nacha) and stays with her until she dies.
• At the conclusion of the film he cuts off the
arm of a Guatemalan soldier as a symbol of his
father’s death (died at the beginning of the
movie by the government).

9. WHY IS THIS A GOOD MOVIE?
• El Norte shows a realistic view of immigrantes
crossing the border into the United States and
the hard life they live to stay there.
• Rather than being very generalized, the movie
focuses on a pair of siblings living and
struggling together.
• The viewer gets to know the characters and
feel for them in the good times and bad times.

10. Cultural Context
• There are several parts of the movie with
cultural context:
– When Rosa starts to feel ill she goes to a “folk
healer”
– This is very common in hispanic countries
• Once she realized she is too sick for a folk
healer, Rosa is afraid to go to the hospital for
the fear of deportation. This is also common
among immigrants. They put their lives on the
line just to be able to stay in the U.S.

11. Cultural Context
• The Guatemalan dialect is heard throughout
the film
• Rosa and Enrique must pretend to be Mexican
[using stereotypes] because of the
inhospitality of Indians. It is considered
“worse” to be a “lazy Indian” than a Mexican.
– Hard work, little pay
– Foul language

12. MOVIE TRAILOR

13. Reflection/ Recommendation
• This movie has an interesting story line that is
realistic.
• Although it is in Spanish, the dialect familiar to
Guatemala is easy to understand if the viewer is
familiar with the Spanish language
• This movie has more than 1 “theme”
– There are parts that are sad and other parts that are
funny along with violence.

14. • Overall, the story line is very easy to follow. There are
suspenseful moments however, the director stays on
task and does not bounce around with flashbacks or
flash-forwards. Therefore there is no confusion
throughout the movie and the viewer is always aware
of what is happening and why.
I personally fell for the
characters and really got
into the story line. There
are no “slow parts” to the
movie and the director
leaves you “wanting to
know more.”