Wetback: The Undocumented Documentary
Wetback: The Undocumented Documentary
| 03 March 2005 (USA)
Wetback: The Undocumented Documentary Trailers

Filmmaker Arturo Perez Torres follows in the footsteps of two friends traveling on an extraordinary and extremely dangerous journey from Central America to North America. On their journey they encounter gangs and vigilantes as well as border patrol. But these immigrants navigate real-life nightmares with uncanny calm, grace and even humor in their perilous pursuit of the a better life.

Reviews
Exoticalot

People are voting emotionally.

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Brightlyme

i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

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Maidexpl

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

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Leoni Haney

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

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lucero65

I thought this was a good documentary because it focused on immigrants from other Central American countries and not Mexico. In the U.S. we hear mostly about Mexican immigrants crossing the border. It was interesting to follow the journey of the men from Honduras. And there were many likable protagonists in the documentary. I appreciated the periodic monologues from those "leads" (to the camera) about their situation. It was also helpful that the names of the countries were indicated on the images when they were crossing borders. One could see how easy it was to cross certain borders. The description of the methods that they used to get around in certain countries and to cross the Rio Grande was well done. I did not expect so much detail. The priest offered compelling commentary and one of his anecdotes was extremely moving. I knew that Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador were quite poor, but I did not realize that there were that many people making the long trek to try to get into the US because of lack of work. Overall the personal stories were very effective and the explanation of Mexico's role in this was explained well.

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zenbrush

What a revealing documentary about the journey of 'undocumented' migrant workers through Central America and Mexico in hopes of reaching Canada or the United States to 'live the American Dream.' No one ever said the dream belonged solely to United States' Americans. A good look at the dangers and difficulties that these people face-just trying to feed their families. This film highlights the catholic safe houses throughout Central America, Mexico, the United States, and Canada, and their rise in popularity since the inception of the WTO. This film reveals the dangers migrants face long before they get to the vigilante minutemen who patrol the border along with US and Mexican Border Patrols. From catching 'death trains' to Mexican gangs which rob and murder migrants on their way to the US and Canada from central American countries, the filmmakers take the viewer on a ride with brave people simply seeking a better life. An excellent companion documentary for this film is "Crossing Arizona."

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halewood2

I was alarmed by Downey's comments. Part of the reason immigrants are coming to America is as a fallout to the policies of past US administrations. When Reagan invaded El Salvador and Honduras in the '80s, thousands were killed and displaced. They were trained by both the US armed forces and CIA to fight against their own people (taken from schools by force by the time they reached 12)and also offered green cards to become fighting machines against the Sandanistas. (This is happening now, with the US trying to recruit Mara Salvatruchas to fight in Iraq). Thanks to the rape of those two countries by the US, there is very little left to stay for. The beauty of these undocumented workers is that they come to the US to do just that: Work, hard. And - unlike Downey suggests - with no medical insurance. Not only do they prop up the US economy, they also pour millions into their own economies - something that the US should be doing to make up for the past. I really enjoyed this documentary. I hope it will remind all of those lucky enough not to be born in the barrio/ghetto/shanty-town, that unless we do something about it there will always be people willing to risk life and limb, just to be able to eat.

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ashleydowney

The problem with this documentary is it's very one-sided. They talk about the benefits of immigrants going into the US and give statistics, but they fail to give the stats on the negative impact of the immigrants. They talk about the taxes and social security they pay, but not about the money the US spends on the immigrants (health care, jobs lost, education, etc.). The fact of the matter is they are 'illegal' immigrants. I don't think the documentary once refers to them as 'illegal'. But it's not the illegal immigrants that should be to blame here; it's the corrupt governments of the countries they come from. The documentary brings up how the police in Mexico abuse these people, but it goes deeper than that. Why about the government who is supposed to be controlling the police force? Why doesn't the documentary go into that? And people put blame on the American people for wanting the illegal immigration to stop, and the government. Why should America have to support the illegal immigrants? The documentary doesn't talk about that. And there is a threat of terrorist coming in the same way. The only mention of that is from an American civilian guarding the boarder. I sympathize with the immigrants, but they are going in illegally and the blame should be placed more on the corrupt governments of their home countries...not the US. Because the documentary doesn't go deep enough into the reasons for the illegal immigration, I feel it's biased.

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