The path of young Liborio (Juan Daniel García Treviño), who leaves Mexico for the United States dreaming of a better life, is one relentless cycle of harsh labor and discrimination. But the film never confines him to the position of a helpless victim. The lead actor’s raw and vital performance breaks down the boundary between intense reality and sensory fantasy, filling the entire film with the fierce energy of magical realism. Through Campeón Gabacho, director Jonás Cuarón reconstructs an immigration narrative that could easily fall into familiar cliché with an entirely different rhythm and sensibility. His direction layers playful and bold visual devices with captivating imagination to transform the weight of reality into a fresh rhythm and proves in an original way the human dignity and perseverance that never breaks even amid the harshest life in a foreign land. (PARK Sungho)