Due to a faulty DVD, I was initially only able to watch one segment of bonus material from Luminarias. In hindsight I am grateful for this glitch because it introduced me to the history of this endeavor and the passion and commitment of Evelina Fernández, José Luis Valenzuela, and the cast members, prior to seeing the movie. Last night I finally got to watch the film and could see how purposefully the scenarios were crafted to convey the ambivalence - the amity, suspicion, attraction, rage, misunderstanding, and humor - that is part of the process of bringing friends, relatives, and lovers from different cultures together. Were the romantic situations in Luminarias overly contrived? Yes, of course, but they do reflect reality and I certainly could relate to them as my own Jewish daughter and her Latino boyfriend worked together in Japan last year and would have fit right in with the characters in Luminarias.
Review of Luminarias
