A Day Without a Mexican

I don’t know if it should be considered a conspiracy or coincidence, but the fact that the two movies showing in English on Ukraine’s wide screens this week both deal with Mexicans is hard to overlook. But as long as both are good and it certainly looks that way it’s perfectly fine with me.

The story told in A Day Without a Mexican may not quite be every American’s biggest fear, but it could become one after watching the movie. One day, Californians wake up to find that all the Mexicans in the state have disappeared. It soon becomes clear that a certain “California dream” is being made reality by people who suddenly vanish, leaving only one Mexican journalist, but even she doesn’t last long. The first question, “Why?” is soon replaced by another: “What to do?” Because as it turns out, those humble Latin Americans working all sorts of simple jobs for less than minimum wage were the ones who made California what it was. Not only is there no one to clean, cook and pick fruits, but the economy is in danger because of the sudden loss of a considerable portion of the state’s consumers. Naturally, the Californians are forced to confess they want all those Mexicans back.

Mexican-born director Sergio Arau based this absurdist parable on the short film of the same name that he co-wrote and directed in 1998. As a Mexican, he understands the conflict between white America and Hispanic immigrants better than anyone else, and his message is clear. Through the film he reveals one simple truth: being intolerant toward the newcomers is not just an ethical question. It might be a question of survival.

Zhovten (26 Konstyantynivska, 425-8909).

See Movies for more information.

Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

The second Mexican movie in English this week is not a comedy but a drama, and was made not by a Latin American, but you’d never guess actor Tommy Lee Jones. Jones, whose only previous directing experience was The Good Old Boys made for TV in 1995, is yet another Hollywood actor who, like Mel Gibson and George Clooney before him, suddenly turned out to also be a skillful director.

Since the movie deals with Mexico and Mexicans, Jones needed a native collaborator. So he chose Mexican scriptwriter Guillermo Arriaga, the author of the screenplays for 21 Grams and Amores Perro by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. Judging by the result, Arriaga and Jones make a good team.

In the film that was dubbed Three Graves for Ukrainian distribution, Tommy Lee Jones demonstrates his knowledge of Spanish playing a man named Pete whose best friend Melquiades Estrada is accidentally shot to death by a border patrolman. The local sheriff is trying to suppress the incident and Estrada is buried, but Pete, who promised to bury Estrada in his hometown in Mexico, is determined to fulfill his deceased friend’s wish. Using a loaded gun as a forcible argument, he makes the border guard guilty of his friend’s death help him dig Estrada out of his grave and carry him across the border between Texas and Mexico.

According to imdb.com, prior to filming, which for the most part took place on Jones’ own ranch, the debut director gave each cast member a copy of Albert Camus The Stranger to read so that they would better understand alienation the main theme of the film. So in a way, Three Burials is the story of another stranger, only the way it would be told by a Hispanic author like Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Kyiv (19 Chervonoarmiyska, 234-7381).

See Movies for more information.

Afrika Bambaataa

Whether you like or dislike the relatively new Kyiv club Kaif, you can’t help but respect that its art director does a good job of bringing the world’s top deejays to play there on a regular basis. However, its next guest star is of such magnitude that he makes all of the club’s previous musical guests pale in comparison. Afrika Bambaataa, the godfather of hip-hop, father of electro funk, prophet of trip-hop and innovator of R&B is coming to Kyiv to play a full deejay set.

Born in the South Bronx, young Kevin Donovan adopted the name of a Zulu leader he had studied and started an organization called Zulu Nation in 1974  a group of racially and politically aware rappers, b-boys, graffiti artists and other people now famous in hip-hop culture. Having pursued music from a young age, by 14, Afrika Bambaataa was known as one of the best (and in fact one of the first) deejays and break-dancers. By 1980, Zulu Nation had grown into a strong clan and their parties, involving battles of DJs, break-dancers and MCs, were the most popular in New York. Bambaataa himself was called the Master of the turntables. Though his fame has quieted, Afrika Bambaataa remains a legend of hip-hop music, and therefore, the upcoming party at Kaif is a must for true electronic music fans, beginner deejays, and break-dancers.

Kaif (20 Artema, 482-0001).

10 p.m. Tickets Hr 100.

by Alexandra Matoshko, Kyiv Post Staff Writer