The quasi-dramatic Mexican comedy Cinco días sin Nora, directed by Mariana Chenillo, tastefully blends dark humor into the death of Nora Kurtz. Nora’s ex-husband José ventures over to her apartment to find that Nora had overdosed on medication in her final suicide attempt. However, Nora’s suicide strikes suspicion in José after too may coincidental events unfold; almost as if Nora killed herself simply to manipulate her ex-husband José one last time. The film takes a dramatic turn as José accidentally finds an old photograph depicting his ex-wife with another man from the time of their marriage, causing José to question the relationship he began with Nora in the first place.

Cinco días sin Nora is subtly hilarious. The protagonist José Kurtz, portrays an “I don’t want to be bothered” attitude which is ironic because José is nothing but bothered and burdened throughout the entire film. Although divorced, José and Nora allude to a stereotypical old married couple who argue and endlessly suspect each other. A prime example would be José finding his deceased ex-wife’s sticky-note reminders annoying and then retaliating against Nora by mixing and moving the reminders around. By the end of the film, however, I noticed a major theme that connects to our Race in Latin American History course, cultural unity.

Race is an inherent part of a culture. Culture becomes especially important when investigating the racial-cultural identity known as mestizaje. A great example of this theme, cultural unity, stands out during the last moments of the film when the Kurtz family is sitting down for Passover dinner. This family meal is quite a change from the continuous conflict between people of different religions and cultures. José and his family are of European descent and belong to Jewish faith with the exception of José’s atheistic views. The Kurtz’s maid is faithfully Christian and likely of indigenous descent. The humorous conflict that arises between the different cultures is what makes Cinco días sin Nora so darkly comical. Serving a rabbi and José’s son Reuben pizza topped with bacon and sausage is disrespectful, not to mention that it’s currently during the holiday of Passover. To further spite his ex-wife, José attempts to have Nora buried by a Christian burial service causing much grief in the family. In the ending, however, José attempts to mend his relationship with his family by giving up his own burial plot shortly after the Kurtz family experiences shameful burial attempt. The meal sharing at the end of the film in which each Kurtz member and the maid are joyfully participating in the meal illustrates the theme of cultural unity. Different people joining together for something as humble as holiday dinner fits right along the description of mestizaje. José participating in the meal [during Passover] shows his family that he respects his son’s faith despite his own beliefs. This dinner reunited the Kurtz family, mending the broken bridges set in the past, sadistically put forth by the suicide of the grandmother Nora.