Bordertown (2007 film)

Infobox Film
name = Bordertown


caption = Theatrical poster
director = Gregory Nava
producer = Executive Producers: David Bergstein Cary Epstein Tracee Stanley-Newell
Barbara Martinez-Jitner Producers: Gregory Nava Jennifer Lopez Simon Fields Tony Mark (Co-prod.)
writer = Gregory Nava
starring = Jennifer Lopez Antonio Banderas
Martin Sheen
music = Graeme Revell
cinematography = Reynaldo Villalobos
editing = Padraic McKinley
distributor = THINKFilm Capitol Films
released = February 15 2007 (Berlin)
August 31, 2007 (United States)
runtime = 100 minutes
country = United States
language = English Spanish
budget = $21,000,000 estimated. [ [http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2006/oct/19/nms-bordertown-hits-snag-loans/ Amedeo, Michael] . "The Albuquerque Tribune," October 19 2006.]
website = http://www.capitolfilms.com/cgi-bin/buildpage.pl?page='270'
amg_id = 1:326119
imdb_id = 0445935

"Bordertown" (2007) is an American drama motion picture, written and directed by Oscar nominated Gregory Nava and executive produced by David Bergstein, Cary Epstein, Barbara Martinez-Jitner, and Tracee Stanley-Newell. The movie features Jennifer Lopez (also credited as producer), Antonio Banderas, Martin Sheen, among others. [imdb title| id=0445935|title=Bordertown.]

The picture has been released in Europe and other countries and will be released in DVD in the United States.

The film is inspired by the true story of the numerous female homicides in Ciudad Juárez and tells the story of a inquisitive American reporter sent in by her American newspaper to investigate the murders.

Plot

The opening titles explain that American corporations are using the North American Free Trade Agreement by opening large "maquiladoras" right across the United States border. The maquiladoras hire mostly Mexican women to work long hours for little money in order to produce mass quantity products.

Lauren Adrian (Jennifer Lopez), an impassioned American news reporter for the "Chicago Sentinel" wants to be assigned to the Iraq front-lines to cover the war. Instead, her editor George Morgan (Martin Sheen) assigns her to investigate a series of slayings involving young "maquiladora" factory women in a Mexican bordertown.Worker Eva (Maya Zapata), originally from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, takes a bus to go back to her shanty-town home after work. After a while she is the last passenger still in the bus. The driver asks her if it is okay that he goes to a gas station to fill up, and Eva agrees. However, he takes her to a quiet place and assaults and rapes her together with another man, who then tries to strangle her. The two men, believing her dead, bury her alive. With the little energy she has left, Eva escapes.

Adrian heads to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, on the U.S.-Mexico border to investigate the murders, hoping that if she does well she'll be assigned to Iraq by Morgan. In Juárez, she meets up with Diaz (Antonio Banderas), who she had been working with six years ago, and who is the editor for the local newspaper "El Sol de Juárez." She also meets Eva.

The three try to find the two killers and have them prosecuted. For this purpose she starts working in the factory, in order to act as bait on the bus ride. The driver tries to assault her in the same way as Eva, and while police assistance was arranged they are at the wrong place. She manages to escape her attacker. Later Diaz gets shot and killed in a drive-by shooting. Eva changes her mind and does not want to testify anymore for fear of revenge, and tries to flee to the US, together with others in the trunk of a car. She gets caught and is sent back. Adrian convinces her to testify after all. For political reasons the Chicago Sentinel refuses to publish Adrian's story. Adrian quits and becomes the editor for "El Sol de Juárez."

Cast

* Jennifer Lopez as Lauren Adrian: reporter for the Chicago Sentinel, and daughter of Mexican immigrants.
* Antonio Banderas as Alfonso Diaz: founder of the Mexican newspaper "El Sol."
* Maya Zapata as Eva Jimenez: factory worker and victim.
* Sônia Braga as Teresa Casillas: founder of an organization trying to help the women in Juarez.
* Teresa Ruiz as Cecila Rojas: Young factory worker.
* Juan Diego Botto as Marco Antonio Salamanca: son of the extremely rich Salamanca family, owner of the maquiladora.
* Zaide Silvia Gutierrez as Lourdes Jimenez: Eva's concerned mother.
* Rene Rivera as Aris Rodriguez: rapist.
* Irineo Alvarez as Domingo Esparza: bus driver and rapist.
* Martin Sheen as George Morgan: Lauren's boss.
* Randall Batinkoff as Frank Kozerski: Lauren's co-worker and friend.
* Kate del Castillo as Elena Diaz.
* Juanes as himself.

Distribution

The picture was first presented at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 15, 2007. It was nominated for a Golden Bear. [ [http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=352887 "The West Australian"] . From: Associated Press, "Amnesty to honour J-Lo for Bordertown," February 3, 2007.] [ [http://european-films.net/content/view/563/52/ European-films] web site.]

Background

The motion picture is based on a series of unsolved murders in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, a "maquiladora" border across the Río Bravo del Norte (Rio Grande) from El Paso, Texas. Estimates of the murders conflict, yet, conservatively speaking over four hundred women, maybe many more, have been kidnapped, tortured and murdered since 1993 in and around Ciudad Juárez. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5268558.stm Summers, Chris] . BBC News, "Hollywood Tackles Mexican Mystery," September 10, 2006.]

When Gregory Nava first heard about the murders in Ciudad Juárez he wanted to do something. He said that his vision became to tell the stories through "an exciting thriller-drama." [ [http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,466465,00.html Gerson, Daniela] . "Spiegel International", from Berlinale, February 15, 2007.]

Nava approached Jennifer Lopez to do the film in 1998 and she was receptive. Lopez said, "Since first hearing of these atrocities in 1998, when Gregory Nava came to me with this project, I desperately wanted to tell this story. I began working to ensure we made this film in order to bring the attention of the world to [the] tragedy and to pressure the Mexican government to bring to justice those responsible for these horrible crimes." [ [http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/entertainment/news/20070203p2a00m0et015000c.html "Mainichi Daily News"] . "Lopez to receive award from human rights group for "Bordertown," entertainment article, February 3, 2007.]

creenplay

The inspiration for the story, according to Nava, was the work of Guatemalan writer Miguel Ángel Asturias, the magic realism of novelist Gabriel García Márquez, and the social dramas of England's Charles Dickens. He also said the screenplay was a return to an "El Norte" type of screenplay (Oscar nominated). In "El Norte" he created a screenplay from many of the interviews he conducted. He did the same in "Bordertown." [Gerson, Daniela. Ibid.]

Financing

Mobius Entertainment, the production company, borrowed money to complete the project from the New Mexico State Investment Council (NMSI) but was late in paying back the loan in March 2006. [Amedeo, Michael. Ibid.]

A second $12.65 million loan could be called in by NMSI before its November 2008 due date because of the late payments. The second loan calls for zero interest because the state of New Mexico will take ten percent of any profits the film might make. Film producers said the delay of payment was due to filming taking longer than expected.

At one point the film was in development with both New Line Cinema and MGM. [ [http://www.showbizdata.com/credits.cfm?id=228741 Showbizdata] film data base.]

Production

Director Gregory Nava and executive producer Barbara Martinez-Jitner believed that the film would bring strong reactions. Nava has said the production received threats against himself and the cast. Also, there was stolen equipment and intimidation of film crew members when they filmed in Mexico.

According to Martinez-Jitner, when they first filmed in Ciudad Juárez, the police began threatening locals who were helping the production. They also began stalking the crew. A camera truck was vandalized and $100,000 worth of film equipment was stolen.

"Bordertown" places the blame for the murders upon the Mexican government, the United States and the "maquiladora" assembly plants that were brought rapidly into existence by the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Nava said, " [When] there are very powerful forces involved, you're going to be attacked. I expect the Mexican government to get very upset about it." [ [http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/cl-et-bordertown14feb14,0,6744509.story?coll=cl-movies Johnson, Reed] . "The Los Angeles Times," "Mexico's murdered women find a voice in 'Bordertown': A new film casts blame on both sides of the border for the scandal that is Ciudad Juárez," February 14, 2007.]

Filming locations

Filming locations include: Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States; and Nogales, Sonora, Cd. Juárez, Chihuahua, and Mexicali, Baja California, in Mexico.

Critical reception

Kirk Honeycutt, writing for the "Hollywood Reporter," did not like the film: "It wants to be a thriller, a piece of investigative journalism, a political soapbox and a vehicle for Jennifer Lopez. It serves none of these masters well." Honeycutt also said the screenplay is full of plot holes and outlines some of them in his review of the film. [ [http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=reviewsNews&storyID=2007-02-16T005614Z_01_N15239824_RTRIDST_0_REVIEW-FILM-BORDERTOWN-DC.XML Honeycutt, Kirk] . "The Hollywood Reporter," (via "Reuters"), "Jennifer Lopez lost in ludicrous "Bordertown", February 15, 2007.]

According to media reports, the audience reacted with a mixture of "boos and muted applause" when the film finished screening. [ [http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,466779,00.html "Spiegel Online"] . "'Bordertown' Booed at Berlinale," February 16, 2007.]

"Variety" magazine film critic, Leslie Felperin, had a problem with some of the arguments made in the film, namely: that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the exploitation of Mexican labor directly led to the killing of many women in Ciudad Juárez. Felperin wrote, "Possible co-factors or causes of the real crime spree, such as rife drug-related criminality, domestic violence largely ignored by the authorities, and the possibility that at least some of the culprits may be U.S. citizens crossing the border to kill for kicks, are not explored here." As for the film, Felperin calls the movie "only fair-to-poor." [ [http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=features2007&content=jump&jump=review&dept=berlin&nav=Rberlin&articleid=VE1117932825 Felperin, Leslie] . "Variety", film review from Berlinale, February 15, 2007.]

Life imitates death

Throughout the years various people have been arrested for the murders in Ciudad Juárez. The latest arrested suspect is Edgar Alvarez Cruz. Cruz was charged on September 8, 2006, of one murder but is suspected of several others by the authorities. Cruz's family say he has a solid alibi. [Summers, Chris. Ibid.]

Awards

Wins
* At the Berlin International Film Festival Jennifer Lopez received the "Artists for Amnesty," award presented by Amnesty International. She won the award for her role as producer and star of a film "examining the ongoing murders of hundreds of women in a Mexican border town." ["Mainichi Daily News," ibid.]

Nominations
* Berlin International Film Festival: Golden Berlin Bear; Gregory Nava; 2007.

References

External links

*
*
* [http://www.latinoreview.com/scriptreview.php?id=24 "Bordertown"] script review
* [http://wbai.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9804&Itemid=125 "Bordertown"] film review at "WBAI Radio"