The Precocious and Brief Life of Sabina Rivas (Luis Mandoki, 2012): Mexico

Reviewed by Sasha Miljkovic. Viewed at Santa Barbara Film Festival 2013.

The Precocious and Brief Life of Sabina Rivas (Luis Mandoki) is a story of a young girl, Sabina Rivas (Greisy Mena). A freshly turned eighteen year old is promised a temporary Visa by her pimp at a strip club. Her dream is to become a famous dancer in the United States. Only problem is the boarder is controlled by the boarder control, who also secretly works with gangs in mexico. So as people try to illegally get into the US, some of them are taken and imprisoned by the boarder control. As the boarder control leaves, gangs run in and rob the rest of the travelers, taking all their valuables, killing the men and raping the women.

Sabina is reunited with her old boyfriend Jovany (Fernando Moreno). She explains her dreams to Jovany. Jovany does everything he can, during his free time, to join the main Mexican gang La Mara Salvatrucha.

Sabina must both dodge the abuse of the boarder control, the police, and local gangs to cross the boarder and achieve her dreams.

This story is amazing, and well told. The camera shots are long and pretty with great landscapes of Mexico. The shots are long to build a little suspense, but more to give the feeling of meditation and relaxation. Sabina finds herself crossing a river, on old boats, throughout the film. The 5 minutes of the camera just staring at her is the most relaxing and beautiful part of this film.
There is a lot of rape. Sabina is very attractive, and she must cross the boarder twice to go and come back to Mexico. Which means she will be seen and ticketed by the boarder control at least twice a journey. The same people take advantage of her over and over again. It is very uncomfortable.

This story is very moving, and well told. but there is a lot of graphic content. I am a guy and felt very uncomfortable  I can only imagine what its like for a woman. So great film, and I do recommend it, but its not for kids. Ever.