"Bread and Roses" chronicles the labor struggles of illegal Mexican immigrants who clean the high rise office buildings that dot the downtown Los Angeles skyline through the eyes of Maya (Pilar Padilla), her older sister Rosa (Elpidia Carillo), and Sam (Adrienne Brody) the labor organizer sworn to help them. Director Ken Loach follows Maya’s harrowing journey across the Mexican border in the dead of night to a rendezvous point where the smugglers are to exchange their human cargo for hard cash. Rosa is there to greet Maya but comes up short and her sister is kidnapped. Maya uses her feminine wiles to escape from her predators into L.A.’s urban landscape of glass and stone. She finds her way to her sister’s house where she is greeted with open arms by Rosa and her family. Maya may have a roof over her head but she must still carve out an existence for herself in the shadow world of Los Angeles like all the other illegals before her.

Maya’s naivete compromises Rosa’s position at work when she insists on working at the same place cleaning offices. Rosa’s boss is more like a prison trustee hired to keep the workers in line. He hires Maya but at a price. This time it’s financial. Others haven’t been so lucky but Ken Loach does not exploit his subject for titillation or cheap thrills. There are no sexually explicit scenes but the nature of the workers’ plight make the obvious apparent without understating their fears. Despite their troubles, they never lose their zest for life. When Sam comes into their lives, he holds out the promise of a livable wage, health care and the chance to become something bigger than themselves through the union. After making his pitch at the work place, he escapes from the security people in an uncontrived scene of comic mayhem. His means of escape are the tools and instruments of the office workers with a welcome last minute assist from Maya. Sam is intrigued by her youthful swagger and she is likewise taken with him and his cause. They embark on their mission with the zeal of lovers in their first embrace but theirs becomes a romance of ideas, not of the heart. All that lays ahead is organization, hard work and if need be - a general strike.

Maya’s success comes at a cost she never expected - a loss of innocence and the opening of old family wounds. A confession from Rosa unleashes repressed memories of hardship and degradation. Here Ken Loach and writer Paul Laverty narrow their canvas with some revelations that go to straight to the heart of the human experience. Maya and Rosa engage in a gut wrenching face off that pits their love for each other against the ideals they have struggled for. The filmmakers do not offer any easy solutions to their dilemma and provide a realistic ending for "Bread and Roses" that is equally triumphant and tragic.

Copyright 2001

"Bread and Chocolate" (1978) (Italian w. Eng. subtitles) - Dir. Franco Brusati. An incredibly funny movie that never loses its touch with humanity. Nino Manfredi is an illegal immigrant in Switzerland in search of a better life with his son. A scene in a chicken coop should go down in the annals of great comedy scenes. Also with Anna Karina

"El Norte" (1983) - An amazing film from director Gregory Nava about the struggles of a brother and sister from their escape from Guatemala to a life of servitude in America. There is one bone chilling scene in an underground water system that stretches several miles from Mexico into California complete with rats and vermin and only two ways to get out - the front and back. This was produced as a three part film for American Playhouse, but the power of its images and its riveting story line prompted a theatrical release.

"My Family" aka "Mi Familia" (1995) - Dir. Gregory Nava: Multi-generational tale with Edward James Olmos as a writer looking back on the major events in his life starting with his immigration to the States. The first rate cast includes Jimmy Smits, Jennifer Lopez, and Esai Morales.

"Poor Cow" (1967) - Loach’s feature debut about a woman in love with her boyfriend’s partner in crime. Carol White has the lead. Terence Stamp is the object of her affection. He reprised the same character for "The Limey" in 1999. This also marked the debut of the Bad Boy of British Cinema, Malcolm McDowell.

"Hidden Agenda" (1990) - Still one of my favorite political thrillers with Brian Cox as a cop out to solve the riddle of a politically motivated killing in war torn Ireland. Frances McDormand is the human rights activist who puts her life on the line. In typical Loach tradition, this movie does not end tidily and raises more questions than it answers.