“If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him… the people who give you their food give you their heart” – Cesar Chavez.
In the movie Cesar Chavez, Michael Peña, plays the role of the American labor leader that the movie is named after. Cesar Chavez – which is directed by Diego Luna – tells the story of the famous civil rights leader and labor organizer who was torn between his duties as a husband and father and his commitment to securing a living wage for farm workers. The film begins with Chavez having a conversation with a plantation worker surrounded by his wife and kids, where we see that he plans to move away from Los Angeles so that he can have a more direct connection with the farm workers he wants to help. The movie then covers the first 10 years of the United Farm Workers and their struggles, beginning with the grape strike in 1965. The boycott that followed the grape strike gained national support and helped to win the first UFW union contracts in 1970. The movie goes on to show the role of Cesar Chavez, his family and Dolores Huerta working with others to start the UFW.
Right from the beginning of this film, the audience can see the dedication and passion that Chavez had for this cause. His decision to move back to the farms especially shows the dedication he had. The fast-paced depiction of his decision and the way it was placed right in the beginning of the movie gave the whole issue at hand an overall sense of urgency. In addition, the way in which Diego Luna decided to shoot the scenes – almost like a documentary- and the lifelike performances on display gave me the feeling of actually being there watching as the action unfolds mere inches from me. I found myself completely absorbed into the movie and Chavez’s story. Throughout the film we see Chavez embrace the non-violent approach as he came up against greed and prejudice in his struggle to bring dignity to the people he once was like. We see not only the struggles of working on a farm but also the struggle of being an immigrant with a family to feed. One character that Chavez interviewed – whose children also works on the farms – shared that himself and others wanted better for their children but they also have to be able to feed their family. This shows how difficult it was for immigrants to stand up for their rights when they knew that their family’s wellbeing was at risk. Chavez’s struggle to unionize these exploited farm workers — his long marches, his hunger strike — create moments throughout the film where it is nearly impossible to not feel moved.
Although this movie does not focus entirely on all the themes we have discussed in class, it does touch on several such as social change, immigration, identity, and to a certain extend food. In terms of social change I would say that that would be the overall theme for the movie. Right from the start of the film, the audience can see that Chavez has to go up against the greed and prejudice the existed in the society that governed the farm workers. Thanks to the naturalistic performances and the documentary like film style, I was able to almost experience how poor the working conditions were for the braceros. I saw how the workers suffered from racism and brutality – both of which are social problems- at the hands of their employers and local Californians. The movie also encompasses the theme of immigration considering the majority of the characters, if not all, are immigrants. The role that the immigrants had and still have in our community directly connects to the theme of food. During the movie it is impossible to ignore the fact that the only workers on the farms are immigrants. We see the connection that immigrants had to the food supply in California. Taking all these themes into consideration, I also believe that the movie shows the struggles the farm workers have in finding their own identities both as individuals and as a subculture in the United States.
Overall I believe the movie was really good but also lacked certain details that would have added to the storyline. Due to my personal knowledge of Chavez, I felt like the movie was told in a very simplified way but was told in an accurate manner regardless. The details that were put into the filming and the acting definitely added to the already moving story.
My Rating: ★★★★☆
