Quinceañera (2006)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: B-     Film: B

 

 

If you are in the know, you have likely heard of the ceremony for 16 year olds in the Latino community known as a Quinceañera.  Like a prom or bar mitzvah, it is an ironic rite of passage that does not always have any meaning and sometimes is a banal nightmare.  The latter is not the case in this Richard Glatzer/Wash Westmorland co-directed project, but the street reality of lives lived is bookended by the celebration.

 

When the film opens, it looks like all fun and games, but then the real story begins.  This includes Magdalena (Emily Rios) who has become accidentally pregnant by a young man who seems responsible, a cousin (Jesse Garcia) who comes from a street gang past & is gay and an uncle (Chalo Gonzales) trying to help them both.  Things get worse and all experience their own pain, all of which makes for real and sometimes sad storytelling.  It is also honest and real, with fine performances and a sense of chemistry between the cast members that makes this work better than expected.  Films are supposed to take us where we have never been before and Quinceañera delivers.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 is not bad, but not rich with detail or in color.  It is clean and watchable at best and works just fine as shot by Eric Steelberg.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is not bad and is clearly recorded and has at least ambient surrounds more often than not.  The combination is impressive for a low budget project.  Extras include a deleted scene, feature length audio commentary with the filmmakers & cast, On the Red Carpet with Quinceañera featurette and the Making Of Quinceañera featurette.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo