By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.6
Director: Fernando Frias
Starring: Adriana Arbelaes | Coral Puente | Juan Daniel Garcia Treviño | Leo Zapata | Sophia Metcalf | Xueming Angelina Chen
Original language title: Ya no estoy aqui
Country: mexico, united_states
Year: 2020
Running time: 112
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4323594/reference
Diane says: “In a part of Mexico wracked with violent gangs, Ulises is the leader of a group of young dancers, Los Terkos. Day after day they get together to hone their moves to cumbia, slowed-down Colombian songs. Ulises is a local celebrity, both because of his moves and his unique hairstyle (what a stranger calls ‘a chicken on his head’).
“A lethal mistake causes Ulises to flee to the US, ultimately to immigrant-rich Queens, where his unique style, self-assuredness and singleness of purpose–cumbia!—get in the way of him making his way.
“The film is superbly edited into a braid of two chronological tracks—one in Monterrey and the other in Queens.
“A movie about losing a home, the plight of immigrants, and the power of music risks being cliche. I’M NO LONGER HERE is anything but. 4 cats“
Michael says: “Totally agree with Diane, and I recommend this as a must see film. Thankfully it’s available on Netflix, giving it a much wider audience that it probably otherwise would have gotten. Strangely enough, when the film started I had a little difficulty engaging with it. I found Ulises a little off-putting, and wasn’t crazy about the gang background. But when I saw him and other members of his posse dancing in the ‘cumbia’ style, I was hooked, and gradually I saw the beauty and power of this gathering of youth.
“I’M NO LONGER HERE is aptly titled, and as you might surmise, there are no happy endings, or easy wrap-ups to be found here. Caught between the violence of his hometown, and the challenges facing immigrants in America, Ulises is caught between a rock and hard place. In Queens, the few people he finds to help him, Lin, the girl who has a crush on him and lets him sleep on her grandfather’s roof, or Gladys, the escort with whom his co-workers try to hook him up with, can only do so much and have issues of their own they must deal with. And back home in Mexico, Ulises plummets from being on the verge of becoming a local celebrity, to being marked by a dangerous gang, and finds both he and his family at risk.
“Despite the ‘chicken on his head’ hairstyle (or maybe because of it?) first-time actor Juan Daniel Garcia Treviño is really captivating with some natural charisma, and fine dancing talent. Writer/director Fernando Frias does a great job showing the different paths life can take you, and something that surprised me about ‘gangs.’ Ulises and his dance pals are known as the ‘Terkos.’ They hang like a gang, they roam the streets, the cause a bit of a ruckus, but their focus is on dance, and music, and lots of what they do is so positive. It’s interesting how ‘gangs’ have such a negative connotation, and certainly, there are some that engage in violence and destruction, but really all they are a groups of like-minded individuals following a strict, self-developed code. It was interesting to see the Terkos as such a positive place for youth.” 4 cats
Bob says”A slice of life about community, home, and assimilation. The leader of a Mexican cumbia dance crew gets on the wrong side of a cartel and has to escape to Queens, where he has trouble assimilating, even with other Mexicans.”
Beth C. says: “This film was visually stunning, and had a lot of wonderful elements. The director should be commended for many artistic choice. The film was so beautifully shot, with creative artistic design, but there were some important flaws. The problems ultimately lie in the acting. The actors routinely are obviously acting. There are numerous scenes where the dialogue between characters is rough and doesn’t quite measure up. I had to wonder about casting decisions and what features were important for each character. Beautiful film with a fatal flaw. 3 Cats”
Julie responds: “Yeah I feel like they edited out too much near the end so it was choppy and disappointing due to that after following this long complicated story that I believe jumped around in time then chop chop and we’re done as if some deadline needed to be made. I was very disappointed but thought it was worthwhile to see and powerful in a sense nonetheless.
Chris says: “Everything in this looks sublime (including the hair, of course.) The flashback structure is ambitious, to say the least; it doesn’t always work, though the revelations towards the end hint at something grander that I hope Frias de la Parra achieves with his next film. 3.5 cats“