On M List of Movie Reviews

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Mi vida loca (1993)

Rate: 5
Viewed: 10/20

MiVida
10/20: Recently, the pseudo-news channel CNN ran a series of specials, covering selected movies of each decade, and for the 90's, some of them were directed by Allison Anders.

My first thought was: "Who the fuck is she?" I was alive throughout the decade and saw so many films, but her work absolutely escaped me. Yes, I had heard of Mi vida loca, Spanish for My Crazy Life, yet dismissed it for many years until now.

The first thirty minutes is bad; Allison Anders jumps around too much in terms of the lead characters. Every time she tries to establish one, the narration is abruptly passed on to somebody else, ruining the overall buildup. It's a frustrating experience. Nevertheless, the acting is good with Salma Hayek making her screen debut before becoming an overnight star in Desperado a couple of years later. Many of the cast members were nonprofessional thespians and came from various gangs around Los Angeles.

The next problem is the depiction of the characters' lives. Before I'm about to say something negative, the authenticity is high; I have no doubt that this is who they were back then, right down to their overdone makeup, terrible hairstyles, and silly life choices. But I don't care about them. However, it's true that a good movie should document a period of any culture before it'll disappear forever. Saturday Night Fever is a perfect example of this.

The chola culture that Allison Anders captured for this film is unique and won't be duplicated. Telling it from a woman's point of view is the biggest strength. Two similar films, Blood In, Blood Out and American Me, were done through the lens of male characters. Therefore, I'm going to give her some respect for changing the direction.

All in all, if I could care about the characters or Allison Anders didn't jump around so much in the storytelling department, Mi vida loca might have worked out better.