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Issue: Spring 2022
Selena (1997) movie review
In the early 1970s a young Mexican-American family in Texas take the father's (Edward James Olmos) dream on the road, launching the career of the breakthrough artist Selena. (Biopic of Selena Quintanilla)
The executive producer Abraham Quintanilla, Selena's father creates a family-centred story of a Mexican family living in Texas who worked and struggled together. Set in the USA of disco when Madonna and Donna Summers ruled, Selena and the band made the music of the much-maligned Mexicans.
Jennifer Lopez plays the singer who would be pop queen, performing with happy verve in English and Spanish. We see her grow from a tiny girl with a big voice to a teenager singing for a fraction of what a male might make, to performing record-breaking crowds in her trademark sparkling bustiers.
Movie poster, Selena (1997), Festivale film review
Movie poster, Selena; Festivale film review
The story of a girl who had the spirit to believe in a dream and the courage to make it come true.
SELENA the musical biopic is bright and fun, imbued with the enthusiasm and joy of the music, but undercut with the entrenched racism from all sides.
Abraham: We have to be more Mexican than the Mexicans and more American than the Americans, both at the same time! It's exhausting!
Selena straddled the Mexican and American lifestyles and values, her life and her music were crossovers. Her enormous fame was unprecedented, paving the way for artists like Lopez, proving that a nicely-brown girl from a simple family could pull the crowds and was worth being paid a "man's wage" in a "man's world".
If you aren't familiar with the Mexican rhythms, this is a wonderful introduction. Lopez is a wonder and for this reviewer the clarity of the soundtrack, with every word clear and certain, makes this a bilingual gem.
Ultimately, Selena was killed by her own fame but she left behind a shining path for other little girls to follow.
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by Ali Kayn |
Just the facts:Title: Selena (1997) The Players: Jennifer Lopez, Edward James Olmos, Jon Seda, Official website: Warner Bros IMDb entry For session times of current films, use the cinema listings on the Movie links page. For scheduled release dates, see the coming attractions section. For more information about this movie, check out the internet movie database. |
Published in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 
Filed: 1-May-1997 