Highly Overrated But Still Good

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

THE GOLDEN DREAM is a quietly gripping story about illegal immigrants from Guatemala striving to reach the US where they can begin the new life of their dreams. The narrative adopts the format of a road movie which follows four different characters as they suffer many trials and tribulations in their attempts to head north. This is a Mexican movie although it does well to put across life in Guatemala. It's low budget but grimly effective, but also one of the more depressing films I've watched; not quite REQUIEM FOR A DREAM levels of depression, but getting there.This is a harsh and realistic film in which the characters find themselves abused by various people smugglers and corrupt officials and suffer the consequences of their actions throughout. As a 12 certificate movie it leaves a lot of the more explicit material off screen but I found this to be more effective than in, say, an explicit film like HELI, because the power of the human imagination is infinitely greater than anything that can be put up on film.The performances from the young cast are electrifying and the characters carefully delineated. Brandon Lopez is the brash head strong youth who has to learn a few life lessons en route. Karen Martinez is the heartbreaking girl who has to disguise herself as a boy just to survive. Best of all is Rodolfo Diminguez as the Mayan-descended lad whose tribal language means that the viewer as well as the other characters never find out what he's saying. Despite this he warms the heart with his oh-so-human portrayal of a boy driven to find a better world and a better life. Throughout the darkness there are a few touching moments and the excellent and thoughtful direction makes this one to watch.

A strong road movie dealing with three boys , Juan : Brandon López , Sara : Karen Martínez , Samuel : Carlos Chajon , they are three teenagers from the slums of Guatemala, all of them travel to the United States in search of a better life . On their journey since Guatemala through Mexico , they meet Chauk : Rodolfo Domínguez , an Indian from Chiapas who doesn't speak Spanish . Along the way they suffer famine , attacks , robbing and many other things . This is a thought-provoking and hard movie with very powerful moments concerning about three teenagers traveling together in freight trains and walking on railroad tracks , but they soon have to face a harsh reality . "Jaula" tracks three teens , one a young Tzxotzil native, from Guatemala across the length of Mexico as they dodge migration cops , clash with gangs and travel on train-tops to a white-knuckle climax on the U.S.-Mexico border . It is a groundbreaking film about a teenager's decision to move to United States and leave everything that he has behind to start a new life in the pursuit of the American Dream . Crossing countries they learn that the American Dream is not easily acquired and maybe and impossibility to attain for some , and they are forced to make some tough choices . The screenplay manages to give some brief laughs from the audience and some romantic elements that you never loose your attention from the film . The picture has a brilliant and evocative cinematography by María Secco who shows splendidly the colorful South American outdoors . Furthermore , a sensitive musical score by Jacobo Lieberman , including attractive Latinas songs . The film was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival -Un Certain Regard Official Selection-, winning Un Certain Talent Award, Gillo Pontecorvo Award and François Chalais Special Mention Award . In its Mexican premiere at the Morelia Film Festival, as the picture won three awards: Audience Award, Best First Film and Press Guerrero Award . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Diego Quemada whose first version of the movie was about 2 and a half hours ; being his first long-feature film . Diego was born in the Iberian Peninsula , Burgos , Castilla . He has lived in the American continent for the past two decades , being nationalized Mexican . His first job in the film industry was in 1995, in Ken Loach's film Land and Freedom as a camera assistant to the director of cinematography . Diego went on working as a camera operator assistant in known titles as : Gone in Sixty Seconds , Man on fire , The lost son , 21 grams , Any Given Sunday , The constant gardener , among others . His graduation film at the American Film Institute (AFI) as writer/director/ was : A Table is a Table . He also shot several shorts . Diego then stepped up in scale with his feature debut "The Golden Cage" , this immigration drama that swept the 2014 Ariel Awards snagging nine kudos , the talent prize at Cannes' Un Certain Regard and a Gold Hugo at the Chicago Fest . Director of Guatemala-u.S. road movie-thriller made "La Jaula De Oro" (The Golden Dream), a standout Latin American debut . Spain-born Mexican Diego Quemada-Diez is readying political thriller "Operacion Atlas" as he launches an Academy Award campaign for this feature . After immigration, "Operacion Atlas" takes another hot-button issue : Civil resistance to multinational corporation development projects backed by local governments – hydroelectric dams, massive deforestation and various fossil-fuel programs (oil, mining, fracking) – which is a recurrent narrative throughout Latin America .

Known more for his work as a cinematographer, Diego Quemada-Diez has made his feature debut, and what a debut it is. Initially set in a slum in Guatemala centred around children trying to cross the US border to seek a better life, Quemada-Diez researched the story by interviewing real life young people who have attempted this themselves and the horrific experiences they endured doing it.Juan, Sara and Samuel are three teenagers who escape their slum to begin hopping freights to the United States. Sara has to cut her hair short and disguise herself as a boy as she understands the risks of being a young girl attempting something this potentially dangerous. During their travels, they meet Chauk, a native American who cannot speak a word of Spanish. He joins the group despite Juan's initial hostility and together they endure many awful events that happen to them. When things seem to be going well for the group, the train is suddenly raided by people traffickers looking for young women. Also, there are teenage scammers working for illegal employers which the characters fall for. When these events happen and the characters are prised apart from each other, your heart sinks like a stone. Later, the remaining characters have to deal with border patrol and they need to attempt to find people they can trust who know of a way through the American border.What the Director has created here is something very harrowing. It is what you don't see that is most disturbing. The writing is also very clever. The dialogue is very minimal throughout the entire film as there is a character who cannot speak Spanish. There is still a lot a of character depth through the actions they choose to escape poverty for a better life. It is also a very confronting film pointing out the problems of de-regulated capitalism and all it's inequalities and how it has effected countries in central America. It is a very bleak and complex situation which most people either turn a blind eye to or would treat these human beings like dogs. The lack of compassion from not only Americans, but their own people is astounding. It reminds us that atrocities like these continue to be a daily occurrence which needs to be looked at.This for me is a film which everyone must see. It is not just an educational film, but a fine example of visual poetry. It shows the beautiful rural dwellings of Guatemala and Mexico and how such human cruelty and barbarism could co-exist in this natural beauty. The performances are excellent as it is more in the children's faces which give us all we need to try and understand their plight which we could never imagine or fully understand. I could not help but compare this to Ken Loach's 'Bread & Roses' and coming to the logical conclusion that his is far more superior! Truly exceptional work.

The movie also known as 'The Golden Dream' is about the central Americans who try to cross the borders of their neighbor country looking for the opportunity to live a better life. From the Spanish filmmaker who is famous for his camera works on Hollywood's big projects carved this movie. This movie was based on the collections of the true information given by the immigrates. Like a documentary style it was told with many heartbreaking incidents.The story begins with the three youngsters from Guatemala, set a one way voyage by foot to the land of opportunity leaving behind the life of poverty. They need to cross a couple of borders and in a halfway through a new member joins them. One of the longest expedition is the train journey travelling across the Mexico where the series of obstacles are waiting for them. Overcoming from all the dangers to reach the final destination is the remain half.''I feel that everything we will see on the other side will be full of good.''Most of the movie is about the train journey. Since it was partially inspired by the real events there are some scenes which are hard to digest. It happens just like that, I once went mute for a scene. Half a world still live in a world like this which is not safer. Very realistic narration with the outstanding performances by the young actors given a great product output. It is just like the British movie 'In this World', except set in a different continent. Same youngsters with same notion who were ready to face odds to get a bright future.For the director it is a fine debut. Looks simple work, but done lots of hard work to capture the images. The majority of the movie was shot in remote places like rail track, villages and jungle like landscapes. It might have not done a good commercial business, though the appreciation from the film festival circuit will boost the filmmaker's confidence for his future projects. The movie is slow and it is silent in most of the parts, but the strength is the powerful contents about the adventure.