Cesar Chavez Movie, Essay Example

Luna’s Cesar Chavez

Diego Luna’s recently released film Cesar Chavez (2014) is a biopic that attempts to relate the life of the American founder of the United Farm Workers union. Chavez, as leader of the AFW was able to rally over fifty-thousand workers in California who were largely comprised of immigrant workers from Mexico who were not American citizens. Chavez, as depicted in the film, dealt with brutal working conditions, violent opposition to his efforts by landowners, self-doubt and family turmoil. The problem with Luna’s approach is that the story he tells is painted in far too-broad of strokes. The clash between workers and owners is presented in almost comic-book fashion, with an emphasis on racism. Similarly, the subplot that deals with Chavez and his family is also superficial and presents a supportive wife and troubled son, neither of which ever move beyond cliché. The lack of complex character development has the result of making the family aspects of the narrative appear underdeveloped and therefore of little consequence. The film might have profited by reversing this approach and making the family storyline highly complex, to show what the real Chavez must have faced while attempting to lead workers and also be a husband and father. Obviously, the same could be said about the main plotline as well, dealing with the labor movement. By creating more complex characterizations, the conflict between the workers and owners would have been much more dramatic and also more realistic.  In particular, depth should have been added to the antagonists of the film in order to show that they, too, are human beings with many sides and many motivations. The film is strong on facts, but short on depth and is therefore only partially satisfying to the viewer.