Quinceanera (2006, d. Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland) has something that I'm always looking for films: a strong sense of place. (In this case, the Echo Park area of L.A.) Although at first pass it appears to be a well-told but familiar story of how teenage Magdalena (Emily Rios) deals with a pregnancy on the eve of her quinceanera (15th birthday), there's quite a bit more going on. Quinceanera is a film about family, values (note the comma), community, the passage of time, and a much underserved subject, gentrification.
An odd sort of family forms when Magdalena moves in with her great-uncle Tio (Chalo Gonzalez) and gay cousin Carlos (Jesse Garcia). Both Carlos and Magdalena have been kicked out of their homes by families with a strict moral code, and the kindly Tio takes them in. Much is made of the fact that Magdalena has conceived without being penetrated, as though Glatzer and Westmoreland didn't want to touch the subject of teen female sexuality.
Tio lives in a small house on the property of a gay couple who are part of a wave of Anglos moving into Echo Park. Carlos is welcomed into the landlords' home; after one three-way sexual encounter he begins a clandestine affair with Gary (David Ross), the younger half of the couple. The repercussions when this relationship is discovered set in motion a key subplot, in which the three roommates are forced to find a new home in a neighborhood that's changing.
On the DVD commentary track, Glatzer and Westmoreland recount their own experience attending a neighbor's quinceanera. The codirectors have great respect for the ritual and formality of the ceremony, which resembles a sort of cross between a wedding and a coming-out party. They also gently refrain from judging the more conservative older characters, who are a mostly at a loss to deal with the choices of Magdalena and Carlos.
Quinceanera should be required viewing for anyone with a narrow idea of what a "family" is. The film ends on a note of simple grace and a deep bow towards the culture that inspired it. With their low-budget, no stars effort, Glatzer and Westmoreland have taught us a little more about just how big America is.
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