Lucía takes her
children Max and Leo from Mexico across the border to the United States.
The border crossing itself is unproblematic, it is in place in Albequerque that history takes place.
In a shabby room without furniture, Lucía is forced to leave her sons during the long days she works double shifts in the laundry and as a cleaner.
On an old
cassette player, she lovingly but strictly dictates what rules apply.
Never leave the apartment, take care of each other, do not mess up, never walk on the carpet without shoes (it is too dirty ...).
If they follow the rules and learn to say "We want to go to Disneyland, a ticket please" in English, she promises to take them to the amusement park.
Max and Leo spend their days in the best possible way in the unfamiliar apartment.
They run around, around, play wolves, practice English but above all: look out the window bored and longing.
The world is dangerous and enticing.
I am thrown into ambivalence between conflicting feelings who on the one hand want to shout at the boys to go out and look around, on the other hand just stay inside and never ever talk to a stranger.
Who is evil and who is good?
It is not easy, and often there is both malice and benevolence in one and the same person.
Samuel Kishi Leopo
paints the American dream in dark colors where petty self-interest and deep gaps keep people in poverty.
In this particular part of the United States, there do not seem to be any winners and in a way it makes life easier to endure, because everyone has about the same damn thing.
In effective portraits, the area's broken residents look straight into the camera.
Stares with defiance in the eyes.
At the same time, there is playfulness in Los Lobos with small exquisite animated elements.
Max and Leo draw themselves as ninja wolves with crayons on the wall (even though it violates their mother's rules) that come to life and also carry the heaviest insights and the most difficult emotions.
It is heartbreaking to see the children try to have fun during the long days in the apartment, completely crushing when they quarrel.
The children are played
almost unreasonably of course by the brothers Maximiliano and Leonardo Najar Marguez.
Irritation and sibling love go hand in hand and photographer Octavio Arauz comes close without playing too hard on the weeping string.
In the same way, Martha Reyes plays Aria's mother Lucía, a loving female wolf who protects her children at all costs, but without either halo or superhuman patience.
Los lobos is a brutal film about migration, class, alienation and fear.
But it has a bright view of man and in the end it is play, joy and trust that win.