Echo Park, L.A.

Echo Park won both the dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival 2006 and it is easy to see why. It has a unique charm and sincerity, which shines through every frame.

Ostensibly the film opens with Eileen’s (Alicia Sixtos) Qinceañera, the Mexican celebration of a girl coming to womanhood at the age of 15. More religious prom than birthday, the Latin community of Echo Park celebrate in style, with frilly, frothy white dresses, endless posed photographs and Hummer limos. Magdalena (Emily Rios), nearing 15, is anticipating her Qinceañera and all the pomp and ceremony that goes with it but her father refuses to pay for a limo. However, when it comes to Eileen’s dress being altered to fit Magdalena, they find she is putting on weight and it soon becomes clear she is pregnant.

Despite being a truthful child, her father (Jesus Castanos-Chima) refuses to believe his daughter when she tells him she is still a virgin. This prompts him to throw her out of the house for shaming him and she goes to live with her great-great uncle Tomas (Chalo Gonzalez) and her troubled, ostracised gay cousin Carlos (Jesse Garcia) in search of a new family.

The film is an affectionate homage to the neighbourhood of Echo Park, since this part of LA is as much a character in the movie as any one of the actors. This is a world where, despite being bilingual, a skill which allows them to slip successfully in to the Californian way of life, Mexican children cannot breathe for tradition and are still very much the target of endless advice from one adult or another. Thus Carlos is ostracised from his family and friends because homosexuality is not readily tolerated in Mexican society. Many of the actors are non-professionals, who have such great presence on camera you wouldn’t know it.

Much of the film revolves round a Magdalena, Carlos and Tomas, as the film explores the nature of relationships, family, tradition, ndependence and the balance that needs to be found when living with others as Magdalena is forced to take on greater responsibility for herself and her unborn child.

Jesse Garcia’s portrayal of Carlos, as an angry, disaffected young man who still has his heart in the right place, is mesmerising. Emily Rios, in her screen debut, has a wonderful naturalness in the role of the quixotic Magdalena. She is a quiet revelation, even her stillness is arresting to watch. And Chalo Gonzalez who plays Tomas, Magdalena’s great-great uncle gives the performance of a lifetime -positively lighting up the screen with warmth, affection, wisdom and non-judgmental understanding and support.

There are key roles too for David W Ross and newcomer (he was actually casting the film) Jason Wood as a gay white couple who take a shine to Carlos. In truth, everyone of the cast and extras seems to play a satisfying role in this movie - from the disapproving grandmothers to the three main leads, everyone is really well cast.

Shot with an HD camera by Eric Steelberg, much of it hand-held, the film is imbued with a vibrancy and spontaneity echoed by the cast and by the exhilarating traditional and contemporary music. For a film whose cast is predominantly made up of people with no previous acting experience, the performances are energetic, realistic and sincere. This really is a film for every generation, both sexes and any cultural or ethnic persuasion because it delivers such a satisfying package. An unexpected joy with a real feel-good message.