La Misma Luna (Under the Same Moon - 2007)

The movie should probably begin with a disclaimer, "Do not watch without a full box of tissues." When young mother, Rosario, decides to cross the border illegally to provide a better opportunity for her young son, Carlitos, she has no idea of the price she will pay for their separation. Four years, several jobs and lawyers later, Rosario isn't any closer to being reunited with her boy and he is now old enough to say, "demasiado"... enough ... Ridden with guilt, Rosario can't bring herself to marrying for a green card and doesn't know what else to do. When Carlitos abuela (grandmother) passes away, he takes matters into his own hands, paying to be smuggles across the U.S.A / Mexico border with cash his abuela had been saving.

Under the Same Moon is billed as a movie showing the "plight of American immagrants"... as an American, this may be the portion that irritates you a little. As a proponent for legal immigration, it did me. By telling the story through the eyes of a nine year old boy trying to get to his mother, the viewer's heart is instantly taken into the story because love knows no political boundaries. Botched smuggles, misplaced trust, the possibility of being sold into slavery, working for pennies, and in fear of the police at every turn not to mention the things the mother is facing - lawyer's fees, dishonest employers, and the cost of living in America while trying to support the family back home, are all played out on the screen effectively tugging at the heartstrings.

For me though, the question always remained in the back of my mind, "Why illegally?" Had the mother chosen to work in her own country or sought sponsorship she would not have unintentionally isolated her son for so long or put him in danger of trying to find her. The town they were from was not portrayed as a place where people were starving or naked. How can anything in Mexico be improved if the people who hunger most for something better do not stay and get LOUD? Someone will probably read this post and comment on how self-righteous and innocent one can be when born in "the land of the free and the home of the brave". Never having traveled outside of the USA, I could easily agree with that. But, living here, I know that we do not have the International corner on love or honor or culture or education. We just have Hollywood. Living here, I know that "all that glitters is NOT gold."