600 MILES

Mexico, 2015, 85 minutes, Colour.
Tim Roth, Krystian Ferrer, Noe Hernandez, Harrison Thomas.
Directed by Gabriel Ripstein.

600 miles is a rather small film, directed by Gabriel Ripstein, some of the celebrated Mexican director, Arturo Ripstein, set on the border of Mexico and the United States. The film was supported by Tim Roth who appears as an investigator living in Tucson.

The 600 miles of the title is from Tucson down into Mexico, a trip made by a young man and the investigator. It is something of a violent story although the treatment is rather restrained.

Guns and illegal smuggling of arms is key to the film. During the opening sequences, the young American goes from shop to shop, trying to buy guns and other weapons, served by very willing experts in their shops. He has a young Mexican friend and, together, they are building up a cache of arms to smuggle across the border.

All would have been simple, and probably was on many of their trips, until the local investigator is on to them. They overwhelm him, and the young Mexican man drives him down to his uncle who is the arms dealer.

The central drama of the plot is not the issue of the arms smuggling though that is significant, but it is the story of the interaction between the young man, more and more nervous, emotional, despite his manifestations of toughness, put to the test by his uncle, who is the dealer, who wants him to shoot the investigator. With some turning of tables, it means that the investigator gets the upper hand, has to decide how to deal with the young man, who is prone to fear and tears, and to return home.

This gives some suspense to the latter part of the film, the audience having some sympathy for the boy despite his being involved and his attempts at bravado (though there are some scenes with him studying himself in the mirror, some references to him as fag, and the suggestions that part of his gentleness may be due to a homosexual orientation).

Not a great film, but an indication that this young director might have a solid career before him.

1. A Mexican- US border story? Crime, police?


2. The settings in Tucson, ordinary American, the gun shops, garages? Police and agencies? Homes?

3. The Mexican locations, entering Mexico, the border guards, the stories for justifying being in the US, the Mexican towns, homes, criminals?

4. Road story, into Mexico, back? The musical score?

5. The American boy, the shops, checking the guns, the number of guns in the shops, the staff and their eagerness to sell guns, but within the law? Sharing with Arnulfo, playful, their plans, smuggling the guns, the vehicles?

6. Arnulfo, his age, tough, his American friend, their banter, playful fighting, attacked by the other group, his being called a fag, fighting, his fear, looking at himself in the mirror, his doubts about himself and his sexuality?

7. Mike, his life on the border, in Tucson, his work, the information, his relationship with his wife, discussing the issues with her?

8. Confronting the boys, their attacking him and hitting him? His being taken, Arnulfo as tough, the drive, taunting? Arriving in the town, taking Mike to his uncle, the contact with the bosses? The guns? The uncle, wanting to kill Mike, asking Arnulfo to shoot him, his reaction, tears, shooting his uncle?

9. The drive back, his fears, weeping, sleeping, the bond between the two? Michael leaving him and the desert? His future?

10. The return home, casual in the house with his wife, reading the paper, the final credits and the voices about preparing for the shopping?

11. The impact, real situations, characters, the interconnections between the US and Mexico, crime, violence, callous attitudes?