Guerilla from the North (Spanish: El guerrillero del norte) is a 1983 Mexican drama film directed by Francisco Guerrero. It was entered into the 13th Moscow International Film Festival.
, 2h19 Directed byGregory Nava OriginUSA GenresDrama, Thriller, Adventure ThemesFilms about immigration, Politique, Films about the labor movement, La précarité, Political films, Films about Latin American military dictatorships ActorsZaide Silvia Gutiérrez, Lupe Ontiveros, David Villalpando, Ernesto Gómez Cruz, Trinidad Silva, Enrique Castillo Rating76% The writing team of Nava and Thomas split the story into three parts:
Arturo Xuncax: The first part takes place in a small rural Guatemalan village called San Pedro and introduces the Xuncax family, a group of indigenous Mayans. Arturo is a coffee picker and his wife a homemaker. Arturo explains to his son, Enrique, his world view and how the indio fares in Guatemalan life, noting that, "to the rich, the peasant is just a pair of strong arms". Arturo and his family then discuss the possibility of going to the United States where "all the people, even the poor, own their own cars". Because of his attempts to form a labor union among the workers, Arturo and the other organizers are attacked and murdered by government troops when a co-worker is bribed to betray them—Arturo's severed head is seen hanging from a tree. When Enrique attempts to climb the tree that displays his father's head, a soldier attacks him. Enrique fights and kills the attacker, only to learn that many of their fellow villagers have been rounded up by soldiers. The children's mother too "disappears": abducted by soldiers. So, using money given to them by their godmother, Enrique and his sister Rosa decide to flee Guatemala, the land of their birth, and head north.