‘Nueba Yol’ Balances Humor, Hardship of Immigrant Life

Over Presidents Day weekend in New York an endearing little picture called “Nueba Yol” opened on 10 screens and raked in approximately $165,000. Today, its makers hope to repeat history with Latino audiences in Southern California.

It’s no wonder writer-producer-director Angel Mun~iz made such an instant connection with Latino audiences in New York in bringing a beloved telenovia character to the big screen. Mun~iz knows how to offset the harshness of the immigrant experience with comedy, melodrama, a little silliness and lots of heart. Most important, he does it with much affection and no condescension. The distributor isn’t going for crossover audiences, but “Nueba Yol,” slang for New York, actually possesses universal appeal--and its score has an irresistible Caribbean beat.

For more than 12 years, comedian Luisito Marti has captivated Spanish-language TV audiences in the Dominican Republic (as well as Miami and New York) with his portrayal of Orodote Balbuena--a widower struggling endlessly to get to Nueba Yol--to the extent that would-be Dominican immigrants have reportedly been referred to as “Balbuenas.”

A chance meeting at the Newark Airport between Marti and Mun~iz, a fellow countryman turning out Spanish-language soap operas in Miami, resulted in Balbuena ending up in a movie--and in New York at last.

The naive Balbuena, who dreams of making a lot of money fast and returning home in only a few months, is persuaded by a young friend (Raul Carbonell) to mortgage his modest Santo Domingo home to finagle a costly visa, and calls his New York cousin Pedro (Rafael Villalona) that he’s on his way before Pedro can urge him to reconsider. Misadventures happen immediately as Balbuena is confronted with dangerous drug dealers, discrimination, rudeness and the grim reality of trying to get any kind of job, especially without the proper immigration documents. (Balbuena has been permitted into the U.S. only as a visitor.)

But like the bumbling heroes of classic comedies, you know that Balbuena is indomitable and that he will even attract a lovely younger woman (Caridad Ravelo) through whose eyes we see a warm, appealing man and not just an awkward clown. Marti is a highly expressive, wide-ranging actor who can be as convincingly serious as he is funny.

In its disarming way, drawing upon sitcom humor as well as soap opera melodrama, “Nueba Yol” is a potent work of popular entertainment. Yet it can move swiftly from the sentimental to the very real pain Pedro expresses when he explodes at the lack of respect on the part of his eldest daughter.

Pedro realizes all too well that all the struggling he and his wife have done to give their children a better life has exacted its toll in precious time needed to be as good a parent as he would like to be. Mun~iz ends with an epilogue that he surely intends for us to decide whether it is fantasy or reality. Intentionally or not, it’s an effectively ironic way to bring to a close a bittersweet Candide-like fable.

* Unrated. Times guidelines: The film has some scenes of violence, drug dealing and addiction.

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‘Nueba Yol’

Luisito Marti: Orodote Balbuena

Caridad Ravelo: Nancy

Rafael Villalona: Pedro

Raul Carbonell: Fellito

A Kit Parker Films & D’Pelicula, S.A., presentation in association with Cigua Films & Miravista Films. Writer-producer-director Angel Mun~iz. Executive producers Miguel Angel Mun~iz, Jose Lluberes, Luisito Marti and Rafael Cespedes. Cinematographer Christopher Norr. Producers Joseph Medina and Carlotta Carretero. Editor Robinson Perez. Music Pengbian Sang. In Spanish, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 44 minutes.

* At selected theaters throughout Southern California.