Roots of Blood

Raíces de sangre[2][3] (Spanish pronunciation: [raˈises de ˈsaŋɡɾe]) (Roots of Blood) is a Mexican movie written and directed by Jesús Salvador Treviño released in 1978 in Mexico and other countries.[1] According to some sources, it had a wide release on May 30, 1979,[5] but other sources show it was playing in US theaters as early as August 1978.[6]

Roots of Blood
Roots of Blood DVD cover
DVD cover for Raíces de sangre in English
Raíces de sangre
Directed byJesús Salvador Treviño[1]
Written byJesús Salvador Treviño
StarringRichard Yñiguez
Malena Doria
Adriana Rojo
Ernesto Gómez Cruz
Pepe Serna
Roxana Bonila-Giannini
CinematographyRosalío Solano
Edited byJoaquin Ceballos[1]
Music bySergio Guerrero[1]
Production
company
CONACINE (Corporación Nacional Cinematográfica)
Distributed byAzteca Films (foreign theatrical distributor)[1]
Madera CineVideo (VHS tape)[2]
Spanishmultimedia (DVD)[3]
Release date
  • 1978 (1978) (Mexico/International)
Running time
94 minutes[4]
CountryMexico
LanguageSpanish (also English on DVD[3])

The film deals with labor relations and tensions between Mexican and Chicano workers. It has received praise as a foundational work in Latin American cinema.

Theme, setting, tone and plot summary

The theme concerns worker relations along the US–Mexico border.[4]

The movie is set in Socorro, Texas, along the border between Mexico and the US. Chicano and Mexican workers interact with each other and with management in a garment factory.

Amidst a heightening labor tension and attempts at organizing the workers, a deadly riot occurs.

Cast
  • Richard Yñiguez as Carlos Rivera
  • Malena Doria as Hilda Gutierrez
  • Adriana Rojo as Rosamaria Mejía
  • Ernesto Gómez Cruz as Román Carvajal
  • Pepe Serna as Juan Vallejo
  • Roxana Bonila-Giannini as Lupe Carrillo[1]
  • León Singer as Rogelio
  • Enrique Muñoz as Adolfo Mejía
  • Roger Cudney as factory foreman Alvarado

Reception, criticism and legacy

For the 20th annual Ariel Awards of the Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences in 1978, Treviño was nominated for Argumento original (Best Original Story) and Ópera prima (Best First Work) for Raíces de sangre.[7]

In 1983, professor of Chicano/Latino Studies Dr. Alejandro Morales reviewed and analyzed the literature of three of Treviño's major 1970s works, stating about Raíces de sangre that it is "an antidote to Hollywood productions such as Boulevard Nights and Walk Proud, which focus on stereotypical images of Chicano gangs".[8]: 127  He criticizes the film noting that, "[T]he film projects...a confusing vision of life on the Mexican–United States border."[8]: 128  Morales further notes the symbolism of the fence dividing the border, and the Chicanos and the Mexicans, at the end of the film and observes that "...the criminals go unpunished and not even an educated Harvard lawyer will change the exploitative conditions that exist on the border."[8]: 133 

In 1991, Raíces de sangre was included in an anthology of the 25 Most Significant Films of Latin American Cinema at the 36th Annual International Film Festival in Valladolid, Spain.[9]

In his 2014 book, Latino Image Makers in Hollywood, author Frank Javier Garcia Berumen describes Treviño's Raíces de sangre as foundational to Chicano cinema.[10]

See also
Spanish language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

References
  1. "Raices de Sangre (1978) Credits details". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-04-03. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
  2. Treviño, Jesús Salvador (2001). Raices de sangre (VHS tape, 2001) [Roots of Blood] (VHS tape) (in Spanish). Madera, CA, US: Compañía Oxxo, Inc., and Corporación Nacional Cinematográfica (CONACINE) (Mexico), Distributed by Madera CineVideo. OCLC 52138242. Archived from the original on 2015-04-03. Retrieved 2015-04-03. A dramatization of the struggle of Mexican families to earn an acceptable life on one side of the border or the other, and to organize against exploitive employers who play off the Mexican workers south of the border against the fear of the undocumented workers north of the border.
  3. Treviño, Jesús Salvador (2007) [1976]. Raices de sangre = Roots of blood (DVD video, 2007) (Color, NTSC) (Region 1 DVD (not playable in Mexico (Region 4))). Latin cinema collection. (in Spanish and English). Los Angeles, CA, US: Desert Mountain Media, and Corporación Nacional Cinematográfica (CONACINE) (Mexico), Distributed by Spanishmultimedia. ASIN B00D6196UA. OCLC 190772413. Archived from the original on 2015-04-03. Retrieved 2015-04-03. A dramatization of the Latino experience in America, chronicling the creation of an international union of garment workers in a Texas border town. A group of chicanos, known as "Barrio Unido", bravely struggle to bring to light instances of prejudice and brutality on the part of both exploitative businesses and the police.
  4. Fountain, Clarke (2015). "Raices de Sangre (1978) Review Summary". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2015-04-03. Retrieved 2015-04-02. The factory workers in the border towns on the U.S./Mexico border in this movie have fallen between the cracks of the guidelines which apply to either nation concerning worker safety.
  5. Staff (2015). "Raices De Sangre (1979)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster, Inc. Archived from the original on 2015-04-26. Retrieved 2015-04-26.
  6. Victoria (theater) (1978-08-27). "The Victoria Advocate (theater advertisement)" [Roots of Blood]. The Victoria Advocate. Victoria, TX, US. p. 34. Retrieved 2015-04-05 – via Google news archive.
  7. "Ariel > Ganadores y nominados > Jesús Salvador Treviño [Año XX [20th] 1978]" [Ariel > Winners and nominees > Jesús Salvador Treviño > XX [20th] 1978]. academiamexicanadecine.org.mx (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2015-04-03. Retrieved 2015-04-25.
  8. Morales, Alejandro (May–December 1983). "Expanding The Meaning Of Chicano Cinema: Yo Soy Chicano, Raices De Sangre, Seguin". The Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe. Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, US: Bilingual Review Press. 10 (2/3): 121–137. JSTOR 25744065. ...[T]he Chicano or non-Chicano viewer cannot totally reject the obtuse meaning but is instead attracted to it in an interrogative posture. Among other qualities this is what makes Treviño's films artistically and socially valuable. (p. 136)
  9. The Directors Guild of America and Byron Gamarro (2009-11-02). "Jesus Salvador Trevino 'Full Circle' (A Latino Committee Event)". dga.org. Los Angeles, CA, US: Directors Guild of America, Inc. Archived from the original on 2015-03-26. Retrieved 2015-03-26. On Monday, November 2 [2009], the Latino Committee presented a special evening in honor of DGA National Board Member Jesús Treviño. Entitled, Jesús Salvador Treviño "Full Circle", the event was a celebration of Treviño as a ground-breaking director and as an activist and pioneer.
  10. Berumen, Frank Javier Garcia (2014). Latino Image Makers in Hollywood: Performers, Filmmakers and Films Since the 1960s. Jefferson, North Carolina, US: McFarland & Co Inc. ISBN 978-07-8647-432-5. OCLC 881518442. Archived from the original on 2015-04-26. Retrieved 2015-04-25. This book documents historical and socio-economic factors that created Latino and Latina images and stereotypes, beginning with the conquest of the American continent by Europeans followed by colonization and new nation-states in the early 1800s. These concepts were incorporated into literature of the 19th century and then into the motion picture art form in the 1890s[.]
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