RP3: Family

Now that we've finished El Norte, I keep thinking about Rosa and Enrique's parents. They aren’t seen “alive” beyond the first act of the movie, but their influence is woven through the later acts (alive is in quotes because we do see them again in Rosa’s illness-induced dreams). It seems that in films where a main character loses a parent or both parents, the loss and memories are glossed over or simply not addressed, so it was poignant seeing how Rosa and Enrique dealt with their loss.
I feel like we see more overt references to their parents through Enrique. Like Aliera wrote in her response, Enrique’s final scene parallels the film’s opening scene, with a Los Angeles construction site blending together with a mountain plantation of some sort in Guatemala. There’s also the movie final shot of their father’s severed head hanging from a tree in that hacienda. I’ve been thinking about that scene a bit and just what it’s supposed to mean. I’ve also been thinking about the unseen fate of their mother and everyone else who lives in their town. Rosa’s references to their parents mainly came in the dream she had where their mother was cooking and their father gave Rosa a basket of flowers along with a catfish. Does anyone know or have any ideas as to what the catfish meant? I was a bit confused by it.

The influence of their godparents is also very important. Their godmother told them stories about El Norte and ultimately gives them the money she had saved so they could go in her place. As Rosa becomes more aware of the struggles they are facing, Enrique finds motivation in the stories of finding success in El Norte.