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'Sangre de mi Sangre'

Rating:

John Anderson

May 16, 2008

The grimy elegance of this Sundance award winner (under its old title, "Padre Nuestro") elevates it well above the standard-issue immigrant drama. So does its Shakespearean plotline: Smuggling himself to New York to meet the father he's never known, Pedro (Jorge Adrián Espíndola) befriends Juan (Armando Hernández), who steals the sleeping Mexican's bag, leaving him penniless and lost.

Juan then pretends to be Pedro, wheedling his way into the confidence of the weary, wary Diego (Jesús Ochoa) so he can steal the man's presumed fortune. While Pedro tries to find his father, and survive via such dubious allies as the street hustler Magda (Paola Mendoza), the Juan-Diego relationship becomes increasingly complex, nuanced and epic in its literary echoes. The acting is first-rate; the story is uncompromised. Written and directed by Christopher Zalla.

SANGRE DE MI SANGRE (unrated). 1:50 (adult content, language, violence, drug use). In English and Spanish with English subtitles. At the IFC Center, Manhattan.