Sansón Noe Andrade is a young Mexican immigrant who has spent most of his life in California. One day he becomes the center of attention, intertwined with a murder carried out by his brother-in-law. Sansón and Me tells the story of the titular individual, now dealing with a life sentence in prison, as he tries to tell his side of what happened. Filmmaker Rodrigo Reyes wants this story to be heard–and he’s prepared to cast a series of individuals to bring this true story to life on screen.
Sansón and Me is a sad story, one that makes viewers scratch their heads and wonder how something like this can happen to a person. We are forced to ask ourselves a series of questions. How does someone accidentally end up in this position? How does a jury convict Sansón to life in prison for a crime they know he didn’t commit? These questions and more exist throughout the entirety of the film–begging viewers to ponder the answers and attempt to understand all that occurs throughout Sansón and Me. The fact that the film makes viewers think is a success in itself. Getting individuals to question the important things in life, consider the “why” in situations like this, rather than jumping to conclusions, is integral not just to the success of the film, but to life in general. Reyes is likely to force important conversations–even if they exist internally, and his ability to bring these things to life makes the film a success in this regard.
While Reyes does a wonderful job of causing people to ask questions, the thing he struggles with is emotion. He’s effectively tasked himself with being the backbone of Sansón and Me, having to guide viewers through the story–but he’s not up to the task. He’s articulate, sure–and his ability to convey the information needed to drive the film exists on a semi-effective level; what he can’t do is alter how people feel. By putting himself in these situations he needs to be able to evoke emotion from viewers, but he’s often so incredibly monotone (and so is just about everyone else) throughout the course of Sansón and Me. He’s essentially emotionless throughout, making it hard for his words to resonate with viewers. Beyond Sansón himself, Sansón and Me is a challenging film to enjoy–because Reyes struggles to give us a reason to care.
Sometimes simplicity is the key to cinematic success–but here in Sansón and Me, Reyes chooses to make things too simple. Much like his inability to convey emotion, his very slow journey through Mexico cripples the film early and often. He moves far too slowly, doing the opposite of what I believed his intention was while making Sansón and Me. I imagine that Reyes had hoped to paint a thorough picture of the Mexican landscape and of Sansón and his family. However, what he does instead is create something uninteresting, truly failing to reel in viewers or to keep them engaged. I found myself struggling to remain focused, uninterested in many of the things that Reyes and his team express throughout–and that stems a great deal from the reality that he is unable to create something enticing.
Sansón and Me has the potential to be incredibly interesting–but I think Reyes approaches the subject all wrong. More of a testimony from Sansón himself, or introducing more emotion into the story would have paid dividends for Reyes’ film–but he fails to capture emotion in a way that at all feels accessible. The reality is that Sansón and Me forces viewers to ask questions, and that’s a tall task. The film is successful in this way–but just about everything else about this production bogs itself down. Sansón and Me is ultimately an uninspiring documentary that fails to capture emotion or ever truly appeal to viewers.
Directed by Rodrigo Reyes.
Written by Sansón Noe Andrade, Rodrigo Reyes, & Su Kim.
Starring Sansón Noe Andrade, Rodrigo Reyes, Gerardo Reyes, Antonio Gonzlez Andrade, Micuel Andrade, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/10
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