An Alfonso Arau film
The film takes place in California after World War II. Two cities in California in particular are noted. The first is San Francisco and the second is a vineyard in Napa.
The first main character is Paul Sutton, a veteran returning home after 4 years of service whose job is that of a traveling chocolate salesman. The second main character is Victoria Aragon, a pregnant MBA student, returning home after her lover (and professor) abandoned her. Alberto Aragon is the third main character, Victoria’s father, and operator of the family vineyard. The last main character is Pedro Aragon, the patriarch of the family.
The protagonist is Paul Sutton, an orphan, without a family (past). He becomes entwined in the Aragon family through a chance encounter with Victoria Aragon first on a train, then on a bus, and finally while walking through Napa County on his way to Sacramento. On the third encounter, Victoria told Paul that if her father found out that she was pregnant out of wedlock, he would kill her. Paul innocently volunteers to pose as Victoria’s husband in order to protect her from her overbearing father. His challenge was to meet the family, leave on business, and never return. This would leave Victoria in a positive light with her family and allow him to resume his life. His impacting decision came when he realized he was free to have Victoria and stood up against Alberto and professed his love for his daughter.
The antagonist is Alberto Aragon. He is a man of strong family values steeped in tradition. Alberto rebels against change and in doing so, alienates his family. He is so caught up in trying to keep these values and traditions alive that he fails to see that tradition does not have to be compromised for the sake of new ways and ideas. Not until he loses his precious vineyard to fire that was a result of his anger does he realize that he has difficulty in loving and expressing that love.
The Aragon family as a community is large. In one house live Victoria’s grandparents, her parents, her brother and herself as well as many people who work and live at the vineyard. They could not understand someone who was an orphan and had no family or past as Alberto said.
No matter what their beliefs, I think the family members still loved one another. The fear seemed to be tied to respect. They had very strong emotions of both love and hate which made for much drama.
As Paulo Freire taught, almost everyone is oppressed. Even with the best education and money, your own family can hold you back for your beliefs. Camila came from an affluent family, yet she and her unborn baby were still made to suffer for her beliefs.
I rate this film a 4. The cinematography was beautiful, the story line was not the same old re-hashed love story, and the characters were very believable.