La Mission (film)

Synopsis

Growing up in the Mission District of San Francisco, Che Rivera (Benjamin Bratt) has always had to be tough to survive. He is a powerful man respected throughout the Mission barrio for his masculinity and his strength, as well as for his hobby building beautiful lowrider cars. A reformed inmate and recovering alcoholic, Che has worked hard to redeem his life and to do right by his only son, Jes, whom he has raised on his own after the death of his wife. Che's path to redemption is tested, however, when he discovers Jes is gay.

Cast

Awards

Opening night honors

Environmental impact

Several scenes in the movie make subtle hints at environmentally friendly themes, such as converting lowriders to run on biodiesel. The film was also shot on an eco-friendly movie set, one of the first of its kind in San Francisco. The cast and crew eliminated the use of water bottles, composting was done on set, and the art department allowed for green product placement in the film. La Mission subsequently earned an Environmental Media Association (EMA) Green Seal Award in 2009 as the result of their production practices.

Film festivals

Release

The film opened on April 9, 2010, in New York City and Los Angeles and on April 16 in San Francisco. The DVD was released on August 10, 2010. Songs of La Mission features songs from the movie.

Reception

Roger Ebert gave the film 2½ stars out of 4. La Mission was referred to as "an honest attempt to portray the destructiveness of violence in the Latino community", and was credited by Latino media as being both authentic and genuine to various aspects of American Hispanic cultures.

Criticism

Alumni of the mutli-ethnic Day Street Gang (Mexican, Irish, Salvadorian, Filipino) commented that the movie did in no way reflect their experience growing up as gangsters in SF's Mission District. Many of them went on to join the United States Military and were offended that the protagonist was named "Che". This was a tip of the hat to the Communist Che Guevara who they considered to be an enemy of the United States, Western Civilization, and their Catholic religion. They were also offended by the positive portrayal of homosexuality which they considered hostile to Christianity and natural law in general.