Here’s a welcome anomaly: a film about migration that isn’t structured around a border wall. Roberto (Jorge Guerra) comes from a broken home, but word has spread that the reason he’s fled his mother’s house in Peru owes more to the country’s history of violence than the unmanageable teenager’s proximity to becoming a statistic of it. But the move from a climate of tropical terrorism to dad’s home in snowbound and freezing Montreal leaves Roberto feeling martyred and alone. It’s made clear from the outset — a freshly uprooted stop sign slung over his shoulder, Roberto leads a one man Via Crucis through the snow — the hell isn’t going to freeze out of him, it’s only going to get hotter. La Bronca: Jorge Guerra leads a one-man Via Crucis. La Bronca: Jorge Guerra leads a one-man Via Crucis. There are still a few days left to partake in this year’s San Diego Latino Film Festival. For a complete list of titles, visit http sdlatinofilm.com. In the meantime, here are two worth watching. La Bronca (2019) Here’s a welcome anomaly: a film about migration that isn’t structured around a border wall. Roberto (Jorge Guerra) comes from a broken home, but word has spread that the reason he’s fled his mother’s house in Peru owes more to the country’s history of violence than the unmanageable teenager’s proximity to becoming a statistic of it. But the move from a climate of tropical terrorism to dad’s home in snowbound and freezing Montreal leaves Roberto feeling martyred and alone. It’s made clear from the outset — a freshly uprooted stop sign slung over his shoulder, Roberto leads a one man Via Crucis through the snow — the hell isn’t going to freeze out of him, it’s only going to get hotter. Bob Montoya (Rodrigo Palacios) is an even bigger adolescent than his son. It’s 1991, and in Montoyo’s mind, such assimilation efforts as no longer answering to the name Bobby López and having a mistress on the side — the type he’s not ashamed to bring around his boy — are good calls. Poised at the ground floor of computer technology, Montoya envisions millions to be made off anti-glare and privacy filters for PC monitors — enough riches to inch the Canadian transplant that much closer to the American dream. Still, one can’t help but notice that like the son, the father isn’t going anywhere. Rounding out this trio of itinerant Peruvians chancers and cheats is Toño (Rodrigo Sánchez Patiño), the easiest of the bunch to find, generally loafing or sound asleep on the couch in Montoya’s basement. What happens in Lima rubs off on Montreal as family aces out friendship and machismo triumphs over all. When it comes time for a show of loyalty, that is, for father to pledge undying allegiance to son, Montoya does so in the worst way imaginable. By then, the writing and directing team of Daniel Vega and Diego Vega have devoted so much time to building a tale of hate compounded that the few extra minutes spent veiling the end result of a violent overreaction is all the more powerful when the they finally go in for the close up. (2019) — Scott Marks
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