Without Name

Without Name (perhaps better known by its Spanish title, Sin Nombre) begins brutally, thrusting viewers into gang culture via the initiation experience of a new member, Smiley (Ferrer). An older member, El Casper (Flores) acts as his mentor of sorts, and Smiley in turn has been keeping quiet about El Casper’s romantic involvement with a young girl, Martha Marlene (García). However, when El Casper’s relationship is revealed, it sets in motion a series of events that leave him a wanted man, with Smiley volunteering to hunt down his former friend.

It is at this point that the story of the gang members becomes entwined with that of Sayra (Gaitán), a teenage Honduran who is attempting to cross into the United States illegally with her father and uncle. The film blends the plot elements of road movies and romance, as El Casper and Sayra grow closer and must face the respective dangers that haunt them as the freight train takes them through Mexico and towards the promise of a fresh start. With its realistic portrayal of the situations faced by illegal immigrants (some of whom were actually cast in the film), Without Name embraces some aspects of the documentary genre.

This complex film is all the more impressive when its production history is examined. Focus Features became involved and provided funding to Fukunaga to make his debut feature film based on the strength of his script. The core trio of Flores, Gaitán and Ferrer were also relative newcomers to the film industry when they were cast. Having picked up awards at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival for its directing and cinematography, this is definitely a film not to be missed.

Ian Chung