My Family is an 1995 American drama film directed by Gregory Nava, written by Nava and Anna Thomas, and starring Jimmy Smits, Edward James Olmos, and Esai Morales. The film depicts three generations of a Mexican-American family who immigrated from Mexico and settled in East Los Angeles. The life story of Jimmy Sanchez in the final part of the film is inspired by Satyajit Ray's 1959 film Apur Sansar.

Plot[link]

The story is narrated by the family's eldest son, Paco (Edward James Olmos). The film begins with the father of the family, José Sanchez (Jacob Vargas), making a journey that lasts one year on foot from Mexico to Los Angeles. He travels to Los Angeles to meet a distant relative known as El Californio, who was born in the city when it was still part of Mexico. They become fast friends and grow a corn farm together. However, after several years, El Californio nears death. Shortly before dying, El Californio says he wants the following written on his tombstone:

When I was born here, this was Mexico, and where I lie, this is still Mexico.

José meets and marries the love of his life, María (Jennifer Lopez), an American citizen. After María is illegally deported to Mexico by the U.S. federal government in a mass roundup, she makes it back to Los Angeles via a long and arduous trip two years later, where she returns home with their new son Chucho.

Twenty years later in the 1958 or 1959, eldest daughter Irene (first played by Maria Canals Barrera, later by Lupe Ontiveros) is getting married. Chucho (Esai Morales) and Paco (Benito Martinez) have grown up. New additions to the family include Toni (Constance Marie), Guillermo "Memo" (played by Greg Albert as a child, and by Enrique Castillo as an adult), and brother Jimmy (Jonathan Hernandez as a child, Jimmy Smits as an adult).

The film begins to gain momentum after the wedding, when a series of events seal Chucho's fate. One night at a dance hall, Chucho is dancing with his girlfriend, when his rival Butch Mejia (Michael DeLorenzo) starts to bother him. This results in a bloody knife fight between the two, and Chucho accidentally kills him. After this event, Chucho becomes a fugitive by the police. One night when Jimmy is playing ball with his friends, Chucho is shot dead by the LAPD before Jimmy's eyes, other members of the family learn of Chucho's death also, when they hear gunshots and rush to a nearby street, where they all find his dead body. As an ambulance arrives to take Chucho's lifeless body away, we hear Paco narrate how Chucho's fate had been on borrowed time.

The third generation, which takes place another twenty years later in the 1970s, faces situations such as acculturation, assimilation, and past problems of the family.

Jimmy (now played by Jimmy Smits) completes a stint in jail and returns home. It is revealed that after Chucho's death 20 years back, Jimmy became an angry man following in his footsteps becoming a fugitive like him. One day, Toni visits the Sanchez home and stuns her parents with the news that she is no longer a nun and has married a priest named David Ronconi (Scott Bakula). In a telling scene Isabel (Elpidia Carrillo), Jimmy Sanchez's wife (a Salvadorean refugee), whom he married so she wouldn't be deported, comes up to him and changes the music in the cassette-player. She tries to get him to dance with her, on the street. At first he doesn't want to and he's not sure he loves her, but she finally succeeds. He asks her at the end of the song, "Will you teach me how to salsa?" It is here that they fall in love for the first time. This scene serves as a metaphor for the continuation of the Sanchez family.

Soon Isabel becomes pregnant, and when she gives birth to their son, Carlitos, she unexpectedly dies. Enraged, Jimmy attacks the doctor he blames for her death, burglarizes a store, and is jailed, leaving his son to be raised by his parents. When Jimmy gets out of prison, he initially doesn't want anything to do with his son who now has behavior problems. When Jimmy finally sees his son, he is filled with joy and immediately wants to care for him. However, his son hates him. The remainder of the movie primarily focuses on Jimmy's attempts to form a loving relationship with his estranged son. After much conflict, Jimmy's son eventually accepts him and moves with Jimmy to Texas. The film concludes with Jose and Maria reminiscing about their past as Jose says "God has been good to us, we've been very lucky, and our life it has been very...very good" and the camera pans to a shot of contemporary Los Angeles.

Cast[link]

• Jimmy Smits as Jimmy Sánchez
• Edward James Olmos as Paco Sánchez
• Esai Morales as Jesus "Chucho" Sánchez
• Elpidia Carrillo as Isabel Sánchez
• Enrique Castillo as Guillermo "Memo" Sánchez
• Rafael Cortés as Roberto Sánchez
• Michael DeLorenzo as Butch Mejia
• Constance Marie as Toni Sánchez
• Scott Bakula as David Ronconi
• Lupe Ontiveros as Irene Sánchez
• Maria Canals Barrera as Young Irene (as Maria Canals)
• León Singer as El Californio
• Mary Steenburgen as Gloria
• Dedee Pfeiffer as Karen Gillespie
• Bibi Besch as Mrs. Gillespie
• Bruce Gray as Mr. Gillespie
• Eduardo Lopez Rojas as Jose Sánchez
• Jenny Gago as Maria Sánchez
• Jacob Vargas as Young Jose
• Jennifer Lopez as Young Maria

Background[link]

While the film was distributed by New Line Cinema, many production companies were involved in the making of the film, including: American Playhouse, Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope, Majestic Films International, and Newcomb Productions.

Gregory Nava has stated that the film has autobiographic overtones, but the film was more inspirational rather than specific. Nava says, "A lot of the specifics came from other families when I was doing research for the film in East Los Angeles."^[1]

The final scene is duplicated shot-for-shot from the final scene of Satyajit Ray's 1959 film Apur Sansar (The World of Apu).^[2]

Filming locations[link]

The film was filmed in both California and Mexico. In California locations include: Agoura Hills and Los Angeles, California. In Mexico locations include: Ocumicho, Patamba, and Pátzcuaro, all in the state of Michoacán, Mexico.

Critical reception[link]

Roger Ebert, film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, liked the direction of the film, and wrote, "Their story is told in images of startling beauty and great overflowing energy; it is rare to hear so much laughter from an audience that is also sometimes moved to tears. Few movies like this get made because few filmmakers have the ambition to open their arms wide and embrace so much life."^[3]

Film critics Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, who write for the web based Spirituality and Practice, liked the film, the acting and the direction of the film. They wrote, "My Family is a touching and often mystical portrait of a multi-generational Mexican-American family in East Los Angeles...Director Gregory Nava (El Norte) does a fine job orchestrating the many events in this emotionally resonant drama."^[4]

But not all were so kind. Caryn James, in a film review in The New York Times wrote the film was "wildly uneven" and "offers a trite, overblown narration by Edward James Olmos and an often flagging sense of drama." She was also not happy with Nava's direction and wrote, "[Nava] seems so enamored of the texture of Mexican-American life that he glides past any sense of character."^[5] Yet, she was very complimentary of Jimmy Smits' performance.

Currently, the film has an 80% "Fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on ten reviews.^[6]

Distribution[link]

The film opened in the United States in wide release on May 3, 1995. In the United Kingdom it opened on October 6, 1995.

The film was screened at a few film festivals including the Donostia-San Sebastián International Film Festival, Spain.

Sales at the box-office were lackluster. The first week's gross was $2,164,840 and the total receipts for the run were $11,079,373.^[7] The budget of the film is estimated at $5,500,000.

Video and DVD[link]

A video was released April 8, 1997 and a DVD version was released on June 9, 2004 by New Line Home Video.

A Spanish version video was also released.

Soundtrack[link]

For the original motion picture soundtrack the producers include a cross section of Latino music, including a merengue and a mambo.

The song "Angel Baby" by Rosie and the Originals, is included as well, sung by Exposé vocalist Jeanette Jurado. In the movie, Jurado made a cameo appearance as Rosie Hamlin performing the song.

A CD was released on April 25, 1995 on the Nonesuch Records label. The CD contains fourteen tracks including the main title theme written by Mark McKenzie and Pepe Avila. Gregory Nava wrote the liner notes for the CD.

Track listing[link]

Con Passione[link]

Composer Mark McKenzie also released Con Passione (2001), a CD that contains various music he has written for films including seven tracks for My Family.^[8]

Track list

• 10. "My Family/Mi Familia Main Titles" (2:25)
• 11. "The River" (2:50)
• 12. "Train Deportation" (1:21)
• 13. "Chuchos's Nightmare" (1:47)
• 14. "I Know You" (:46)
• 15. "The Owl/No One Really Cares" (1:42)
• 16. "God Has Been Good to Us" (1:41)

Awards[link]

Wins

• NCLR Bravo Award: NCLR Bravo Award; Outstanding Feature Film; 1995.
• Donostia-San Sebastián International Film Festival: OCIC Award, Gregory Nava; 1995.
• Young Artist Awards: Young Artist Award; Best Young Supporting Actor - Feature Film, Jonathan Hernandez; 1996.

Nominated

• Casting Society of America: Artios Award; Best Casting for Feature Film, Best Casting for Drama Feature Film, Jane Jenkins, Janet Hirshenson, and Roger Mussenden; 1995.
• Donostia-San Sebastián International Film Festival: Golden Seashell; Gregory Nava; 1995.
• Academy Awards: Oscar; Best Make-Up, Best Makeup, Ken Diaz and Mark Sanchez; 1996.
• Independent Spirit Awards: Independent Spirit Award; Best Male Lead, Jimmy Smits; Best Supporting Female, Jennifer Lopez; 1996.

References[link]

External links[link]

• My Family at the Internet Movie Database.
• My Family film scene at YouTube